The King's Men Seek Congressional Cover in Healthcare Reform

What will a federal option for health insurance mean to the Plaintiff Attorney Bar? It is clear that the Plaintiff Bar has been squarely behind President Obama, and that support runs deep. But a serious debate is lacking concerning the impact of health-care reform on the ability of plaintiff attorneys to bring suit against the insurance industry, manufacturers of medicines provided to individuals vis-à-vis the federal government, providers of medical treatments paid for by the federal government, and so on. While the Democratic party has traditionally been a friend to Americans who have been injured, the Republican party has provided its alternative, which in addition to the traditional “tax cuts,” endorses a major curtailing of lawsuits against health providers (and also a rallying cry from right-leaning bloggers).  See also Common Sense Health-care Reform to Lower Costs and Increase Acces to Quality at a Price Our Country Can Afford, by  Roy Blunt at www. GOP.Gov.   It is imperative that the Plaintiff Bar be vigilant that compromises made in the efforts to push health-care reform do not provide health manufacturers or health-care professionals the golden opportunity to provide legislative cover for acts of negligence in exchange for support for the reform that this country so desperately needs. This August congressional break provides an opportunity for the Plaintiff Bar to carefully see what has been proposed so far; to contact allies in the House and Senate, and to follow up a successful presidential election with a health-care bill that ensures Americans the right to hold industry accountable for its acts of negligence. This right is as fundamental as access to good health-care, and the two complimentary rights need to be preserved.

State Lawsuits Alleging Bank Misconduct are Not Preempted by Federal Law

The Supreme Court yesterday addressed a second attempt by the Bush Administration to thwart state lawsuits against big corporations through the preemption doctrine.  Since ruling against preemption in Wyeth v. Levine, a landmark case allowing state lawsuits to move forward against large pharmaceutical manufacturers, yesterday’s ruling opens the way to lawsuits against large international banks whose lending practices hurt consumers.  This ruling marks the second defeat of the Republican administration to create a shield for corporations.  With Barrack Obama at the helm, the new administration has made it clear that agency rules and promulgated regulations will not be used to create preemption where Congress has not chosen to do so.  The Supreme Court, though dominated by conservatives, clearly chose to honor states’ rights and the right of Congress to be the author of any preemptive intent in passing legislation or creating agencies to.

Historic President Makes Historic Appointment: First Latina Apointed to the Supreme Court!

Judge Sonia Sotomayer, a 54 year old judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, was born and raised in a housing project in the Bronx. She received a full scholarship to Princeton University in 1972, only 3 years after the school began accepting women. Upon graduation she entered Yale Law School.  In 1991, President George H. W. Bush appointed Sotomayor to the Southern District of New York.  In 1997, President Bill Clinton appointed her to her current post.  Among her controversial opinions was the preliminary injunction against MLB’s attempt to unilaterally end the baseball strike in 1994 through abrogation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and her order allowing the Wall Street Journal to publish the suicide note of Vince Foster.  Nonetheless, she has been considered a moderate by the ABA.

George Mitchell has born to an Irish father, a janitor, and an Arab Lebanese mother, Mary Saad, in 1933 in Maine.  He served in the military, went to law school, and soon thereafter chose public service.  He became a federal judge after losing the race for governor in Maine, but was subsequently appointed a senator when Edmund Muskie resigned.  He has been one of this nation’s leading Democrats, serving as Senate Majority Leader for the Democrats from 1989-1995.  In 1995, Mitchell began to work tirelessly for peace in his father’s homeland of Ireland.  Peace in that region was largely achieved under his tutelage as US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland.  Mitchell went on to lead the Walt Disney Corporation and to be general manager of the Red Sox before being called back to public service.  Now, at Obama’s request, he turns his attention to the region where his mother was born—as US Special Envoy to the Middle East. 

Israeli Leader Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu

George Mitchell will now have to square off with Hamas (which the US designates a terrorist organization), Fatah (the more moderate Arab-Palestinian group of the now deceased Yasser Arafat), and Israel’s newly elected, longtime political figure and head of the Likud Party, Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu, though born in what is now Israel, lived in the United States (his father was a professor at Cornell in New York) and has been a staunch American Ally.    Nevertheless, Netanyahu is a hard-liner who has opposed an independent Palestinian State.  His approach to peace between Israel and Palestine can be summed up in his own words: “Right now, the peace talks are based only one thing, only on peace talks. It makes no sense at this point to talk about the most contractible issue. It’s Jerusalem or bust, or right of return or bust. That has led to failure and is likely to lead to failure again….We must weave an economic peace alongside a political process. That means that we have to strengthen the moderate parts of the Palestinian economy by handing rapid growth in those areas, rapid economic growth that gives a stake for peace for the ordinary Palestinians.” Unfortunately, this will be difficult at best because now, when creating an economic link between Israel and Palestine would take billions of dollars, those dollars are simply no longer on the table. 

George Mitchell will have to save his best performance for last (this is likely the final chapter in Mitchell’s book of accomplishments as he is 86 years old) if he is to bring together these disparate parties and hand President Barak Obama a peace agreement between Israel and Palestine. 

The Three Kings, Bringing Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh.

On December 16, 2006, Leigh O’Dell of Beasley Allen led the Sanford Pinedo LLP Tuesday Morning call-in Bible Study, focusing on the story of the three kings (Matthew 2:10-12).  Leigh taught a wonderful lesson on what the gifts these kings laid at the feet of Jesus symbolized, and what these symbols could teach us.  Leigh noted that Gold was, even then, the most precious metal.  Gold was the sign of kingship, and by giving gold, the wise men were acknowledging Jesus was King of kings, and Lord of lords.  Frankincense, by contrast, was used in temple worship.  It was used to offer up prayers of thanksgiving and joy—not for sin sacrifices.  It symbolized the joy of Jesus’ birth and divinity of Jesus.  Finally, Myrrh, a spice used for embalming, pointed to the coming death of Jesus on the cross.  Leigh then turned to the participants, inquiring what each of us would bring to Jesus this Christmas.  She suggested the gift of preparation, the gift of surrendering to Christ’s Lordship in our lives, and the gift of service to others.  Please join us at Sanford Pinedo LLP in celebrating Jesus’ birthday by giving back to God and our community!

Alex Barlow, Partner

Alex Barlow, a partner at Sanford Pinedo LLP and experienced Houston litigator, has been appointed to the Texas Trial Lawyers Association (TTLA) Board of Directors for 2009.  This appointment comes as Alex Barlow has also been appointed to the Continuing Legal Education (CLE) committee and Communications Committee.   Alex is well suited for these positions, having evinced a commitment to complex litigation on behalf of many who have been injured or harmed. His specific areas of practice have included toxic torts (benzene, asbestos, silica, and chemical exposure), environmental property damage, oil and gas royalty disputes, nursing home malpractice, and commercial litigation. Alex also represents a Fortune 500 company in ad valorem tax litigation. He earned a Bachelor of Liberal Arts Degree from the University of Texas as a participant in the prestigious Plan II program and his J.D. with honors from The University of Texas School of Law. In law school he was the recipient of the George E. Seay Endowed Presidential Scholarship and a member of the Order of the Coif, a national honorary society for law school students. Alex will be speaking at the mid-year 2009 meeting of the TTLA on the topic of Emerging Torts: Theories of Recovery.

Earlier during the day I had had lunch with one of my mentors and we were discussing potential outcome of for the night. I must admit that I was still a little skeptical of President-Elect Obama’s chances of winning even though all of the polls had him leading, on the other my mentor what extremely confident that he would win and would win by a large margin. I must acknowledge that the mentor I was having lunch with was a white guy and we probably viewed things somewhat differently went it came to race relations in America. While he was confident and optimistic, I was careful and concerned. As young African-American, I was given the “you can be anything you want to be” speech with the unspoken, yet power understanding that it came with some limitations.

November 4, 2008 changed that unspoken understanding. What this election and this moment did was shift the foundation of race relations in America. No longer can America just ignore race as if it is this disease ridden object in the corner of the room that dare not be touched or acknowledged. The election of President-Elect Obama is the centerpiece of the manifestation of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream for America. More than forty-years ago Dr. King dreamt of America one day judging a person by the content of the character and not by the color of their skin. On November 4 this faze of his dream was realized.

Hearing President-Elect Obama’s acceptance speech reminded me of the speech that I have listened to many of times in the past, Dr. King’s I’ve Been to the Mountaintop speech. It was almost as if Obama was channel Dr. King when he spoke about the road ahead being long and the climb being steep and how it may take sometime for America to get there, but he stated that “I promise you- we as a people will get there.”  In Dr. King’s speech he too spoke about the difficult days ahead and how he didn’t know what might happen in the days ahead, but he was supremely confident that we would get there because he had he had been to the ecclesiastical mountaintop and seen the proverbial promised land. In no way I am saying that Obama is this ecclesiastical figure, but I truly believe that he is the man for this moment.

As black America and America, in general, approach the historic day of January 20, 2009, one day after we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Day, we are now faced with new realities in America especially black America. Now that President-Elect Obama has been elected to the highest office in the nation, black America must begin to revamp itself, especially my generation. The days of thinking that being smart and speaking with proper grammar was “acting white” must end because as Mr. Obama has shown being smart can be cool and enable you to achieve some great things. The days of idolizing the fraudulent rap culture must end if we are to truly see the promise land. Also the days of blaming white America for our problems must also end because as Mr. Obama has proven that we can be anything we would like to be if we would only put our minds and to it and work our butts off.

This election is truly historic for African-Americans, but what must be understood by African-Americans is that Barack Obama is not just the President for African-Americans but he is the President for all American, if we will understand that and not expect him to just work to improve the lives of black people, but of all of people then I truly believe that we will finally see the promised land and bask in all of its wonders.