LETTERS
Dr. Mike’s Deep Thought on Sports
A Bronx cheer to East Coast fans for not watching the World Series and making it one of the lowest-rated ever. After the Angels crushed their Yankees in the first round of the playoffs, I guess they couldn’t bear to watch the Halos keep on winning.
But if East Coast fans persist in refusing to watch any finals their teams aren’t in, they will be in for many sportless days and nights. Lets review the champs of the last six months.
& #149; Men’s basketball: Los Angeles Lakers.
& #149; Women’s basketball: Los Angeles Sparks.
& #149; Men’s soccer: Los Angeles Galaxy.
& #149; Baseball: Anaheim Angels.
In football, as of this writing, the San Diego Chargers are tied for first place in their division. And let’s not forget
& #149; Men’s golf: Tiger Woods is from Orange County.
& #149; Men’s tennis: Pete Sampras is from Los Angeles.
& #149; Women’s tennis: The Williams sisters are from Los Angeles. Lindsay Davenport lives in Orange County.
Remember, too, East Coasters, the Angels are young. “K-Rod” is 20. John Lackey is 24. Series MVP Troy Glaus is 25. They’ll be back next spring for your viewing enjoyment.
Deal with it.
Michael Arnold Glueck, MD
Newport Beach
Tort Reform
Class-action reform is needed. While mass tort lawsuits have served an important role as a check against corporate and government wrongdoing, the increasing abuse of this legal remedy has become a frivolous injustice,not only to businesses and consumers, but even to the plaintiff class members the system was set up to serve in the first place.
Consider: More than 400,000 people scammed by a convicted con man, including 67,000 people from California, may be taken again, this time by their lawyers. The case involves a class-action lawsuit against a man who was convicted of running an illegal lottery scheme that bilked an estimated $120 million from mostly elderly and disabled people. The defendant has served his time in prison and paid $12 million in restitution, but remains very wealthy.
To recover the rest of the ill-gotten gains, a South Carolina law firm filed a class-action lawsuit in Madison County, Illinois, a jurisdiction with a trial lawyer-friendly reputation.
The lawyers settled the case for $2 million in legal fees and $6 million for the victims, with any unclaimed money going back to the defendant. The New York Times reported in August that only 450 people had filed claims in the case. The Times wrote, “assuming 1,000 claims at $50 each, Mr. Down would pay $50,000 to the class ” The defendant would walk away with tens of millions of dollars he made illegally and the lawyers representing the victims would be getting 40 times in legal fees what all of their clients received in claims.
Congress is presently considering a bipartisan tort reform bill called The Class Action Fairness Act (HR 2341, S 1712), that would curb this type of abuse by moving large multi-state class-actions to federal court, and by codifying a set of protections against collusive settlements, called a “Plaintiff’s Bill of Rights.”
The House bill passed last March, while the Senate version is being examined by the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which California Sen. Dianne Feinstein is a member.
The Senate bill will not limit anyone’s ability to file a lawsuit, nor does it seek to cap damages or attorneys fees. It is a procedural reform that will preserve the noble purpose of Class Actions, while addressing the loopholes that have enabled abuses to take place.
The California Chamber of Commerce strongly supports this legislation as a common-sense solution to the abuse of our nation’s mass tort institutions.
For more information about the Class Action Fairness Act, contact me at (916) 444-670 or visit www.litigationfairness.org.
Cher Gonzalez
Counsel/Legislative Advocate
California Chamber of Commerce, Sacramento
Franco Vessia
I was so glad to see Fifi Chao name Franco Vessia of Vessia Ristorante in Irvine as Restaurateur of the Year in Orange County. I have watched Franco since he served as general manager of Prego and he has always run a great restaurant, whether it was his own or not.
Franco understands that great food is just a beginning, and that ambiance and service matter as much as the food. Orange County is blessed with several great restaurateurs, such as Antonio Cagnolo of Antonello, David Wilhelm of French 75, Michael Kang of Five Feet, the Karamardians of Zov’s and Alan Greeley of the Golden Truffle.
Franco belongs right up there with all of the best.
Randy Smith
Smith Public Affairs
Irvine
