Law Firm Is Sued Over Conduct in Liability Case

NY Times ^ | July 10, 2003 | ADAM LIPTAK

[Pharmboy]

A Texas law firm faked evidence and tried to bribe witnesses in a products liability case, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday in San Antonio by the DaimlerChrysler Corporation.

The lawsuit follows an appeals court decision last year that dismissed the products liability case and imposed sanctions of $865,000 against three of the firm's lawyers. The appeals court called the firm's conduct "an egregious example of the worst kind of abuse of the judicial system."

According to the court's decision and a lawyer for DaimlerChrysler, federal prosecutors are investigating the firm. The United States attorney's office in San Antonio did not respond to a call seeking comment.

The products liability suit was filed by the Kugle law firm of San Antonio in 1998. It said that an accident on a Mexican highway in 1996 that killed four children was caused by the separation of the steering column of the car involved, a Dodge Neon. The suit sought $2 billion.

But, according to the lawsuit and the appeals court's decision, when lawyers at the firm located the car in a salvage yard near Sabinas, Mexico, a few months after they sued, they found that the steering column was intact. Their expert witness photographed the column during the visit, but the lawyers never told their adversaries that their accusations were false.

Instead, according to the suit, they either altered or replaced the crucial part of the steering column. Testimony in the products liability suit has also been called into question.

Soon after the crash, Bridgett Fabila, a passenger, told the Mexican police that the car had crashed because the driver, her husband, Juan Fabila Jr., fell asleep. According to the new lawsuit, an investigator hired by the law firm offered two Mexican policemen bribes in exchange for their promise to forget Ms. Fabila's statements. They declined.

Two years after the crash, Ms. Fabila submitted a sworn statement saying that on the night of the crash "my husband was spinning the steering wheel in a complete circle in both directions without any effect, as if the steering wheel was not connected."

Steve Hantler, as assistant general counsel at DaimlerChrysler, said the company had collected only about a fourth of the sanctions the court awarded it. Mr. Hantler said the new suit, which seeks additional compensation and punitive damages, is part of the company's larger litigation strategy.

"We're fighting back against lawsuit abuse," he said. "This is part of an effort to hold law firms accountable."

The expert witness who photographed the intact steering column, Tom Persing, later testified that one of the plaintiffs' lawyers had conceded the fraud to him.

"The Kugle firm was running a bluff," the lawyer, Robert Wilson III, said, according to Mr. Persing. "But they had their hand called."

Mr. Wilson invoked his Fifth Amendment right at a court hearing, and he did not respond yesterday to a request for comment. Through a spokeswoman, a second lawyer sued by DaimlerChrysler, Andrew E. Toscano, declined to comment. The senior lawyer at the firm, Robert A. Kugle, has been suspended from the Texas bar and has moved to Mexico. He could not be located for comment.

[Pharmboy]

Why am I unsurprised?

[Support Free Republic]

50,000 people go to a baseball game, but the game was rained out. A refund is then due. The team is about to mail refunds when the Congressional Democrats stopps them and decrees that they send out refund amounts based on the Democrat National Committee's interpretation of fairness. After all,if the refunds are made based on the price each person paid for the tickets, most of the money would go to the wealthiest ticket holders. That would be unconscionable!

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[xJones]

"We're fighting back against lawsuit abuse," he said. "This is part of an effort to hold law firms accountable."

Good for them, it's about time somebody starting going after fradulent lawyers.

[Bahbah]

"...an investigator hired by the law firm offered two Mexican policemen bribes in exchange for their promise to forget Ms. Fabila's statements. They declined."

This did surprise me. I hope those lawyers go to jail.

[Vesuvian]

Issue 1: $2 billion??

Issue 2: All those involved in fraud should face still criminal and civil penalties. Set an example that will be mentioned in hush tones in bar associations for many years to come.

[Pharmboy]

And those two Mexican policemen should be in charge of that country...

[Tamzee]

All those involved in fraud should face still criminal and civil penalties.

Hear, hear!

And a warm welcome to Free Republic :-)

[Vesuvian]

Thank you. It's great to be here, except as a NYer I'm not used to being around so many sane, logical people at the same time!

[an amused spectator]

I've always maintained that the courtroom is just theater for the really smart actors and actresses.

What goes on in American courtrooms has no connection with reality.

[Pharmboy]

You'll want to know about these http://www.manhattan-institute.org/fabiani/

[Vesuvian]

Thank you so much, I'm a member of the Fedaralist Society and on their mailing list too (sadly I can't attend as often as I would like.)

Modern trial practice has less to do with fact finding than it does with bamboozling a jury.