| To trial lawyers, especially those involved in the tobacco litigation, Mr. Bush
has become their worst nightmare. He has made attacks on lawyers a campaign
centerpiece, pointing with pride to his record in Texas of curbing civil
litigation, capping legal fees and limiting jury awards. |
| I will do whatever necessary to see that candidates who espouse the position
that Bush does are defeated at the polls. ?Trial Lawyer Peter G. Angelos
(Leslie Wayne, Trial Lawyers Tap Their Profits from Tobacco Lawsuits to Fight
the Republicans, The New York Times, March 23, 2000) (emphasis added) |
| It would be very, very horrifying to trial lawyers if Bush were elected, said
John P. Coale, a Washington lawyer involved in the tobacco litigation, who has
given over $70,000 to the Democrats. To combat that, we want to make sure we
have a Democratic president, House and Senate. There is some serious tobacco
money being spread around. |
| This year, though, the ill will has peaked. Trial lawyers have been gearing up
for new battles in Congress to pass a patients bill of rights and in the
courts against health maintenance organizations and the gun industry. |
| Now that they have triumphed over the tobacco industry, trial lawyers have
found a new target, Gov. George W. Bush, and they have been spending huge
amounts of money from the tobacco settlement to keep him and other Republicans
from being elected. |
