A Growing Free-for-All - New York Times

A Growing Free-for-All - New York Times

The Times is wrong again. They would have you believe that evil demons lurk everywhere in big companies who are always out to screw the little guy. They'd have you believe that corporate consolidation and acquisitions are bad in principle. They would create an environment where lawyers get even richer. They continue their Bush bashing in every way they can think of.

In the U. S. we are awash in frivolous litigation that seems to serve mostly to fatten the pockets of attorneys with little benefit to the economy. For example, I just received notice that I can be a member of a class action suit against a telecommunication company. The mailing to millions of people cost $Millions . The telecom company proposes to settle for $35 million to avoid spending even more defending the action and the attorneys who brought the suit will reap 30% of that amount. This is utterly ridiculous. If I chose to participate in the settlement, my 'award' would be a dollar or two. Foolishness!

Certainly, the prosecution of Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia and others who are really crooks is necessary and appropriate. These guys are bad actors and deserve severe punishment. The sad part is that they were able to carry on their crookedness for so long and, in the case of Enron, so many employees/shareowners suffered severe losses.