Posted on 10/21/2005 8:33:35 PM PDT by jeltz25
With more than 25 years of legal experience and a five-year stint on the board of a legal malpractice insurer, where her duties included helping law firms weed out bad clients, Harriet Miers was in some ways unusually well-suited to guide the fortunes of the Dallas law firm she ran in the late 1990s.
But in 2000 and 2001 her firm settled three malpractice suits of its own for at least $30 million, including one for $22 million.
Miers' tenure as the firm's managing partner was among the credentials that President Bush cited when he nominated her for the Supreme Court.
The suits have attracted the interest of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which this week asked Miers for more information about them. Committee staffers said Friday they want to know more because the settlements seemed unusually large for legal malpractice complaints.
(Excerpt) Read more at macon.com ...
Sounds like another thing in which she was a pioneer. Sigh.
I am not going to say I told you so. I am not going to say I told you so. I am not going to say I told you so.I am not going to say I told you so. I am not going to say I told you so. I am not going to say I told you so. I am not going to say I told you so. I am not going to say I told you so. I am not going to say I told you so.I am not going to say I told you so. I am not going to say I told you so. I am not going to say I told you so. . . . I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!!! . . . sorry :)
"In January 1999, Locke Purnell merged with Houston-based Liddell, Sapp, Zivley, Hill & LaBoon, and Miers was co-managing partner of the new, 400-lawyer Locke Liddell firm."
"The alleged malpractice involved three Locke Purnell attorneys and continued until Austin Forex collapsed in September 1998. At least one of those attorneys is still listed on the Locke Liddell Web site."
"(former football star Russell) Erxleben was already notorious for conning investors and business partners and that his reputation should have been a red flag for the firm."
"When the suit was filed in October 1999, Miers said the firm stood by its representation of Erxleben. "Locke Liddell has done nothing improper, and in our judgment never should have been named as a defendant," she said at the time."
"But six months later, in April 2000, Locke Liddell announced that it would pay a $22 million settlement, without admitting liability."
"Erxleben eventually was sentenced to seven years in federal prison."
If Bush was trying to avoid a controversy by nominating Miers, he failed, even if things are being exaggerated. He should have just nominated JRB and let the games begin. At least he would have had allies strongly, and forcefully, going to bat for him.
This is getting demoralizing, and this lady is being slimed.
He said, "Son, I've made a life out of readin' people's faces.
Knowin' what the cards were by the way they held their eyes.
So if you don't mind my sayin', I can see you're out of aces,
For a taste of your whiskey, I'll give you some advice."
So I handed him my bottle, and he drank down my last swallow.
Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a light. And the night got deathly quiet, and his face lost all expression.
He said, "If you're gonna play the game, boy, you gotta learn to play it right.
CHORUS: You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away, know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
Every gambler knows that the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away and knowin' what to keep.
'Cause every hand's a winner and every hand's a loser
And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep."
CHORUS
And when he finished speakin', he turned back toward the window,
Crushed out his cigarette and faded off to sleep.
And somewhere in the darkness, the gambler he broke even.
And in his final words I found an ace that I could keep.
You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away, know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
But, but, but, how about John Edwards. His malpractice lawsuits weren't held against him. :)
good points there
I had no problem with the pick once I learned more about her.
But, I am getting tired of trying to defend her. And her inability to understand "proportional representation" is annoying.
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