Mississippi Litigation Review & Commentary : Mississippi Personal Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Phillip W. Thomas Law Firm : MS Litigation Review & Commentary

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Want to be on an exclusive MDL plaintiffs' steering committee? Then you need to be an attorney in a large plaintiffs firm—the type that generally does not exist in Mississippi. That's my take away from reviewing the list of attorneys on the Plaintiffs' steering committee in the BP Oil Spill MDL.

Here is Judge Barbier's Order rendered Friday with the names of the fifteen lawyers on the plaintiffs' steering committee. Most of the lawyers appointed to the committee practice with large plaintiff firms. The even more exclusive executive committee is composed of four lawyers: James Roy, Russ Herman, Brian Barr and Scott Summy.

My interpretation of the Order is that the steering committee will run the entire litigation. Lawyers who represent victims—but who are not on the steering committee—appear to be getting squeezed out of the litigation.

The only Mississippi lawyer on the steering committee is former congressman and Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy, who practices with national plaintiffs firm Morgan & Morgan. Here is Espy's application for the committee, which emphasizes his political background and firm size, as opposed to achievements as a trial attorney. Being African-American probably helped Espy make the cut. But being a former politician and a member of a large national firm could have been more important factors.

Numerous other Mississippi lawyers applied for a slot on the committee and were not appointed. I can't help but wonder if the small size of plaintiff firms in Mississippi was a hindrance in lawyers making the committee.

Most plaintiff operations in Mississippi are small as far as the number of lawyers. A large plaintiff firm in Mississippi is a firm with 4 or more lawyers. Many Mississippi plaintiff lawyers are solos, but still find a way to work mostly on big cases. It is common in Mississippi for plaintiff lawyers from different firms to team up for big litigation.

It is a model that I use in my practice all the time. But is it the best model for litigating big cases? Most of the MDL steering committee lawyers are in big plaintiff firms such as Baron and Budd and Beasley Allen.  

In the late 1990's regional defense firms formed and moved into Mississippi. But plaintiff firms remained small and localized. Perhaps more large plaintiff firms would have established a presence in Mississippi in the 2000's if not for tort reform and the era of the ultra-conservative Mississippi Supreme Court.

It will be interesting to see how plaintiff firms in Mississippi will look 10–15 years from now. My guess is that we are getting close to an era where plaintiff firms in Mississippi get larger. And while this would cause plaintiff lawyers to lose some of their autonomy, it would put them in a better position to compete for leadership slots in national litigation.    

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This week in the Chinese drywall litigation Judge Eldon Fallon entered a default judgment against one of the manufacturers:

A Chinese drywall manufacturer that didn’t respond to a class-action lawsuit has been found in default, an early legal victory for homeowners who blame the product for various health problems and property damage.

During a pre-trial hearing in New Orleans on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon issued a default judgment against Taishan Gypsum Co. Ltd., court records show. The company failed to respond to a lawsuit filed by an Alabama home builder despite being notified of it in late June, the judge said.

Unless it is withdrawn, the judgment prevents Taishan Gypsum from defending itself in court against numerous suits accusing it and others of making defective drywall that was installed in U.S. homes.

Here is a link to the quoted article. Woo hoo!! Plaintiffs Win! Plaintiffs Win!   Not so fast sparky.

In a case like this a default judgment is a bad thing for the plaintiffs. The manufacturer is turning its back on the plaintiffs and basically saying that the plaintiffs will not be able to collect on the judgment. I've read somewhere that plaintiffs' attorney Russ Herman said that they will seize ships that carried the drywall in order to collect. I wouldn't bet on it. The article points out that the Chinese government owns Taishan Gypsum. Somehow I don't see the U.S. allowing an international incident by Mr. Herman seizing ships to satisfy money effectively owed by the Chinese government. Here is an article that does not sound optimistic about the prospects of recovery.

Here's an idea. The U.S. is up to its eyeballs in debt owed to China due to the trade imbalance. Maybe Congress could pass a law authorizing the U.S. government to reimburse the victims of the Chinese drywall and then deduct the amounts from what we owe China. Is this feasible? I have no idea. But it may take this kind of creative thinking for the victims to receive compensation.

Here are my prior posts on Chinese Drywall litigation.

Here is an excellent post from the PopTort Blog explaining the litigation.