ATRA Again Urges Stiff Discipline for Two Asbestos Fraud Lawyers in Mississippi

The Rogues’ Gallery section of the latest Judicial Hellholes report cited Mississippi personal injury lawyers, William Guy and Thomas Brock, both of whom had been found civilly liable by a federal jury for their pursuit of fraudulent asbestos claims. 

Guy and Brock pursued those claims against the Illinois Central Railroad even though their clients had already received compensation for asbestos-related injuries in a previous lawsuit against other businesses years earlier and were barred from making additional claims.  The lawyers were ordered to repay the $210,000 damages they initially won for the clients and kick in another $210,000 in punitive damages. ATRA last year urged the Mississippi Bar to impose severe sanctions and send a strong message to citizens and employers that the state’s legal culture will not backslide toward the corruption once personified by imprisoned Mississippi tort kingpin, Dickie Scruggs.

“The citizens of Mississippi, as represented by the jury’s verdict against Guy and Brock, have stood up both for the rule of law and economic growth,’ wrote ATRA president Tiger Joyce in a March 28, 2010, op-ed in the Hattiesburg American. “Now, the Mississippi Bar must similarly stand up by meting out severe sanctions to Guy and Brock. A slap on their wrists won’t do, and the whole country is watching.”

Well, to the state bar’s credit, it has filed a serious complaint against Guy and Brock, according to an Associated Press report in the Clarion Ledger, and the state Supreme Court has established a tribunal to hear the case.  Judicial Hellholes readers will be apprised of the results.