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Section: Politics Section: National Current stories in Politics: |
Oct. 16, 2005, 9:30PM Business leaders say they're ready to back MiersHer experience in corporate law is a comfort factorBy THOMAS KOROSECCopyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
"Her business background won't solve all our problems and concerns, but now, with her and (Chief Justice John) Roberts, we'll have two justices who have real-world business experience," said R. Bruce Josten, chief lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which he said is set to formally endorse Miers. Abortion and school prayer capture more attention, but business issues such as government regulation, employment, intellectual property and foreign trade regularly go before the court. "Huge, bet-the-company lawsuits" have American business spending more on litigation than on research and development, Josten said. A flood of asbestos lawsuits alone will cost industry about $140 billion in future claims, he said. Miers, who has taken on Texas trial lawyers in a battle over setting fees, has been endorsed by the American Tort Reform Association, which favors limiting lawsuits. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, defended Miers last week by saying "she has a recognition of the problems with frivolous lawsuits and an appreciation for tort reform." In light of those endorsements, left-leaning Internet blogs are starting to fill up with comments such as this one on AlterNet: "Miers is going to be a ferocious cheerleader for the corporate state."
Expecting a 'tort-reformer'Dallas attorney Fred Baron, a past president of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and one of the state's most influential plaintiff lawyers, said he expects that Miers will favor limiting lawsuits that hold corporations accountable. "She is going to be a George Bush tort-reformer. That's where she's been," said Baron, who sees tort reform as a closing of the courthouse to victims of bad business behavior.Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, a consumer watchdog group, said Miers' record does not bode well for people hurt by defective products or medical malpractice. "Her efforts to limit lawsuits and access to the courts are troubling," Claybrook said. In 1995, as Republicans took control of the Texas Supreme Court, Texas trial lawyers backed a bill that would have blocked the court from limiting attorney fees. Miers wrote then-Gov. Bush a letter urging him to veto the bill, which he did. In her letter, which was released last week from Bush's Texas archives, she wrote that trial lawyers backing the effort were "greedy" and "immensely rich and powerful." The trial lawyers, Miers went on to write, "have brought shame on this state, badly hurt our economic-development efforts directed at creating jobs and continue to this day to cause our state to be held in disrepute for 'justice for sale.' " "She felt pretty strongly about the issue," said Baron, who backed the bill. Attorney R. Bruce LaBoon worked closely with Miers as a co-managing director of Locke, Liddell & Sapp, which was formed in early 1999 by the merger of his Houston firm with her Dallas firm. "I think she'll be a strict constructionist and won't use the law for social engineering," LaBoon said. "She isn't someone who thinks business should pay in a lawsuit because business has plenty of money. She comes from a background that says business is entitled to its rights like everyone else."
Strong business acumenIn the two years they worked together, until she left for Washington in 2001, LaBoon said he watched Miers manage the firm. "She's a very good businesswoman," he said. "She understands expense control and budgets, and what it means to go out and get new business. She'll be a breath of fresh air for the Supreme Court."The Dallas native earned a law degree from Southern Methodist University in 1970. Two years later, she became the first female lawyer hired by the Dallas firm of Locke, Purnell, Boren, Laney & Neely. Miers spent the next three decades representing clients such as the Texas Automobile Dealers Association, Walt Disney Co., Microsoft Corp., SunGard Data Systems Inc., and other major companies in complex business cases involving class-action torts, contract disputes and fraud and antitrust claims.
Decisions hard to predictMost of the cases she handled were settled before they went to trial, a review of the case files shows. And only one — a class-action suit against Microsoft — gained the attention of the Texas legal press.In 1995, plaintiff lawyers persuaded a state district court judge and an appeals court to certify lawsuits against the company as a class-action matter. The lawsuit claimed that a software flaw could cause customers to lose data, and that the 10.5 million customers who bought the product were each entitled to $10 in damages. Miers argued for the software giant that relatively few customers lost data and that most were not harmed. The trial court judge reviewed Miers' brief and reversed herself, ruling that anyone claiming damage would have to sue Microsoft individually. Other cases involved such things as a claim by a minor-league infielder against Disney, which then owned the Anaheim Angels and its Midland farm team. The suit, in which the player alleged the team ruined his career by providing poor medical care, was settled. Miers won a case for damages brought by a Mexican promoter against a traveling Disney show. Tom Connop, a partner who also worked on the case, said Miers argued a narrow issue involving jurisdiction in an appeals court and prevailed. "She was very dedicated to her clients, and they were trusting of her advice," Connop said. "She's being dumped on because she went to SMU instead of Harvard or Stanford. I've had cases against the top students from the top schools, and Harriet's talents match or exceed them." He said he and other partners in the firm chose Miers as manager because of her stature in the Texas legal community and "her demeanor, her ability to listen to all sides of an issue." Josten, the U.S. Chamber lobbyist, said his organization has long evaluated the records of potential high court candidates on the basis of their records on business issues. Divining how they will decide future cases is a risky enterprise at best, he said. "We've evaluated a bunch of these now," Josten said. "We've determined you can't possibly predict how they're going to rule on a certain set of facts in a given case." thomas.korosec@chron.com
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