Due Justice

Chapter 21

Tampa, Florida

Thursday 5:20 p.m.

January 21, 1999

Follow the money, Hathaway had said. I asked my law clerk to bring me a list of all of the breast implant cases I had currently pending on my docket together with the names of the attorneys and law firms representing both parties. She ran the request through the computer and had it for me in thirty minutes.

I was surprised at how many cases I actually had. The computer list was ten pages long. I asked her to sort the cases by lawyer and defendant. The list I got back reflected the majority of the plaintiffs’ cases were being handled by Grover and his partner, Fred Johnson. Only one or two other plaintiffs’ firms were represented and then they only handled one or two cases.

On the defense side, there were about five firms listed. The majority of the cases appeared to be against two corporate defendants and one individual, Dr. Michael Morgan. Each of those defendants was represented by E. O’Connell Worthington. The remaining third of the cases against various defendants were represented by as many defense firms.

Most of the cases had been filed more than two years, and involved a husband and wife as plaintiffs. One case was noteworthy, however, because it was a class action, listing the individual names of more than 350 plaintiffs and the defendants were each of the named manufacturers. In the 350 plaintiff case, all of the manufacturers were represented by one defense counsel, E. O’Connell Worthington. Plaintiffs’ counsel was Grover.

I then looked at the trial calendar. Because 95% of all civil cases settle, I schedule about twenty trials a week during my jury term and twenty-five trials a week during non-jury term. There were 10-15 breast implant trials scheduled every jury term for the next twelve months.

The class action case was scheduled for trial six months hence. As many cases as were still on my docket, more than twice that many had been transferred to Federal Court in Georgia to the multi-district litigation being handled by my good friend, Judge Franklin. I had no idea what was happening with Judge Franklin’s cases, and I called him. Miraculously, he was available to speak to me.

After the pleasantries were exchanged, I asked “Steve, what is the status of the breast implant litigation you’re handling these days?”

“We’ve got a global settlement almost completely negotiated. It’s been approved by the plaintiffs and the defendants. I have a couple of motions by insurance companies and Medicare and Medicaid to decide and then I’ll make a decision on final approval.”

“What will happen to the settlement if it is not approved?”

“I haven’t let myself think about that,” he laughed. “But, if that should happen, then I guess we’ll start having trials on all four-hundred-forty-thousand claims. I figure I’ll get done about the time I am scheduled to depart the earth, or this will kill me prematurely!”

I laughed politely in commiseration. Judges don’t get paid overtime. “And what will happen after the settlement is approved, if it is?”

“After approval, the only step left is for the individual plaintiffs to submit the medical proof necessary to establish their entitlement to payments under the terms of the settlement grid.”

“Settlement grid?”  I felt like I was learning a foreign language.

“We’ve worked out a system where women with different types of diseases will be paid different sums of money. The least amount a woman will be paid is five-thousand and the most is one million.”