Scrushy Files "Honest Services" Motion

Richard Scrushy, former HealthSouth Corp. chairman, today filed a motion with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, seeking to be released from prison while the court reconsiders his 2006 conviction, as the Supreme Court ordered it to do following the high court’s “honest services” decision.

Remember the stuck accelerator crashes involving Toyotas? Mike Ramsey and Kate Linebaugh of the Wall Street Journal yesterday reported: “The U.S. Department of Transportation has analyzed dozens of data recorders from Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles involved in accidents blamed on sudden acceleration and found that the throttles were wide open and the brakes weren't engaged at the time of the crash, people familiar with the findings said” (Early Tests Pin Toyota Accidents on Drivers) . In short, as P. J. O’Rourke wrote in Parliament of Whores regarding a similar case: “Yes, the dumb buggers stepped on the gas instead of the brake.” Lawyers for the plaintiffs will, no doubt, be withdrawing their claims and apologizing to the company for wasting its time.

Daniel Fisher of Forbes relays a report (from John O’Brien of LegalNewsline.com) that the Obama administration may give the plaintiffs bar a long-desired tax break, one that will make it even more profitable for them to undertake mass contingency-fee suits against corporations: “Treasury May Give Trial Lawyers a Sweet Tax Break.” And here is a 2009 statement from the invaluable Washington Legal Foundation on what it all means: “Federal Government Bailout for Trial Lawyers.”

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