Trent Lott Sues "Good Neighbor"

In 2001 Trent Lott was quite upset about preventing "frivolous lawsuits".
See Article:

"Trent Lott, the Senate Republican leader, said: "My own state of Mississippi has become a mecca for frivolous lawsuits, with unlimited damages. They go into a particular county."

Mr. Lott's brother-in-law, Richard F. Scruggs, who made his name suing asbestos and tobacco manufacturers, is one of the most successful plaintiffs' lawyers in the state. He is leading a team filing national class- action lawsuits in federal courts attacking H.M.O.'s, which he contends coerced doctors to withhold medically necessary treatments promised to patients.

Whether the many lawsuits filed in his state are frivolous, as Mr. Lott contends, is in dispute. But the Circuit Court of Jefferson County in rural southwest Mississippi — one of the poorest counties in one of the nation's poorest states — has indisputably become a popular destination for lawyers suing makers of prescription drugs, cigarettes, lead paint and asbestos products.

In Congress, a major questions is whether a patient should be able to sue a health maintenance organization in state court, federal court or both. H.M.O.'s oppose any expansion of their legal liability, but if forced to choose, they prefer federal court because they believe that large jury verdicts are less likely there."

Fast forward to post Katrina 2006 and Mr. Lott has a different view of what constitutes "frivlous". I think the difference is if someone else is sueing that's frivolous, if Mr. Lott is sueing that's seeking justice.

Lott Sues State Farm

In an ironic twist Lott's brother in law Richard Scruggs is now representing Lott in a class action suit against
State Farm.







From MotherJones:
Any Tort in a Storm By Dave Gilson
May 1, 2006

Over the years, Mississippi senator Trent Lott made a name for himself as an opponent of lawsuit
'abuse," decrying his home state as "the center of jackpot justice" and declaring, "What disgusts me most is the lawyers that the abuse has made super-wealthy." That was then. After Hurricane Katrina ruined his Gulf Coast home, Lott changed his tune, joining thousands of Mississippians in a class-action lawsuit against their insurance companies. The suit is headed by legendary plaintiffs’ lawyer Richard Scruggs, who observed, "Funny how frivolous lawsuits stop being frivolous when it’s you."

One more notch of hypocricy in the Right Wing gun belt.