Posted on September 22, 2009 by Chip Merlin (posted to SLABBED with permission)
Sheila Birnbaum: The Attorney Behind State Farm’s Katrina Scruggs Defense Explains How Major Corporations Can Use the Civil Justice System to Thwart Consumer Rights
I enjoy good lawyering. Corporate America has the best lawyers defending their actions and figuring out how they can be unaccountable for their bad acts. A formidable New York Ivy League trained lawyer, Sheila Birnbaum, is one of those lawyers. I give her, Corporate America, and especially State Farm, all the credit they deserve for showing that they can beat State Farm’s customers and their attorneys in the appellate courts of America. Birnbaum implied that large corporations have greater influence over federal courts of appeal in her webinar with the Washington Legal Foundation last year.
The Washington Legal Foundation is one of those “ultra conservative” tobacco, manufacturing, and insurance interest dominated “think tanks” that espouses legal theories that limit consumer interests. Insurance defense firms and lobbying groups use these groups for propaganda. They try to get their board members appointed to government and judicial positions. Unless you are supported by one of these groups or you represent those product manufacturers, you could not dispute me. This group is as much anti-consumer as communists are anti-capitalist.
These groups use their vast financial resources to substantially affect our laws, even though they have no vote or legitimate need to affect public policy and the rights of millions of consumers. They hire the most highly paid lawyers, like Sheila Birnbaum. So long as these corporate interest groups are allowed to use their money to influence politicians and the media, Americans will always have the problem of their government ultimately working for the corporations and against their best interests. British Tories were the “corporate interests” at the time of the American Revolution, and corporations represented by lawyers like Birnbaum are the new American Tories of the twenty-first century. Their law firms pretend to do good while they rake-in millions from corporate representation, public relations advertisements, political support, and corporate propaganda. Individual and consumer interests have much less affluent financial political help. Guess who is winning?
Over the weekend, I came across a webinar by the Washington Legal Foundation featuring Sheila Birnbaum. I first thought that Slabbed would have noted this. But, I search the term “Birnbaum” on Slabbed search and found the following Continue reading “Merlin makes introduction and SLABBED welcomes Shelia Birnbaum”