Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse of Central Texas

Investors.com
October 22, 2009

Lawyers' Next Victim

Posted 10/20/2009 07:20 PM ET

Abusive Litigation: Which industry will the trial lawyers go after next? A suit filed by Mississippi property owners who had losses from Hurricane Katrina might provide a glimpse of the mischief to come.

In less than a month, two federal appeals courts have reversed trial court decisions to throw out global warming lawsuits.

Last week, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled that a class-action suit against energy companies can proceed. In Comer v. Murphy Oil USA, the plaintiffs are alleging that 30 oil, electric and coal companies are liable because they have made products that contributed to the global warming that intensified the effects of Katrina. The plaintiffs are Mississippians whose property was damaged in the 2005 storm.

On Sept. 21, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City reinstated Connecticut v. AEP. In this suit, eight states, the city of New York and three land trusts are seeking an injunction that would order six power companies to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.

Both cases are alarming. Courts shouldn't let plaintiffs sue over global warming when it's nothing more than speculation. But the Comer case is cause for greater concern.

"It is a private class action for compensatory and punitive damages, not a suit brought by states or municipalities for injunctive relief," professor and defense attorney Russell Jackson explains on his legal blog Consumer Class Actions & Mass Torts. "And that means contingency fees. And thus the promise of copycat lawsuits."

Despite the shrieks and roars from global warm-mongers who firmly believe man is causing the planet to heat up with the carbon dioxide he is emitting, there's no way to prove that that is the case. As the lower courts ruled in both suits, the issue is nonjusticiable, meaning that it is inappropriate for judicial review.

But that won't matter to acquisitive plaintiffs, rapacious trial lawyers, politically minded judges and gullible jurors. They'll plow right through the science to shake down corporate victims out of spite and greed.

Through frequent filings of abusive medical malpractice lawsuits, trial lawyers have already contributed to rising health care expenses. They would be happy to do the same to energy costs, invoking Comer v. Murphy Oil USA as their inspiration. Unless future courts make better rulings than the Second and Fifth circuits have, or lawmakers address the problem, trouble lies ahead.