March 29, 2013
Matthew L. Lifflander brings needed attention to the gigantic drag that perjurers and other civil-court fraudsters exert on our economy in the eventual form of higher prices for goods and services (“The Economic Truth About Lying,” op-ed, March 26). And his forward-looking ideas to limit the lying and fraud, including enactment of a statutory civil tort for litigants damaged by liars, are all good, even if certain politicians and judges dependent on campaign contributions from the personal injury bar would fight them tooth and nail.
But there’s a law on the books that CSX Transportation has already used successfully to punish two Pittsburgh-based attorneys and a discredited radiologist it caught bringing fraudulent asbestos claims in West Virginia. CSX went after the asbestos conspirators with the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), and its landmark lawsuit and table-turning victory late last year can now serve as a model for other defendant companies tired of being targeted by unscrupulous parasites among the plaintiffs bar.
Darren McKinney
American Tort Reform Association
Washington
Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A12
A version of this article appeared March 30, 2013, on page A12 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Lying in Our Courts Engenders High Costs.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424127887324789504578384901315903788.html?mod=ITP_opinion_1
