LegalNewsLine Logo  
Friday, July 3 2009     Subscribe in NewsGator Online
News | Contact LegalNewsline | About Us | Advertise | RSS
Enter search keyword
 
NEWSLETTER
Receive our FREE weekly newsletter
click here
LNL MOST POPULAR ARTICLES
+ U.S. Supreme Court sides with white firefighters in race bias case
+ U.S. Supreme Court: State AGs may probe national lending practices
+ King: Rethink GM bankruptcy plan
+ McKenna argues against federal preemption of consumer laws
+ Obama says Supreme Court 'moving the ball' on affirmative action
LNL HOT TOPICS
+ Asbestos
+ Bankruptcy
+ Big Pharma
+ Class Action
+ Dickie Scruggs
+ Financial Crisis
+ Gasoline Prices
+ Global Warming
+ Hurricane Katrina
+ Lead Paint
+ Personal Injury
+ Sub-Prime Mortgages
Hot Topics 
 
Sherwin-Williams slams AG Lynch, Motley Rice in motion
Lynch
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - One of the paint companies found liable in Rhode Island's landmark lead paint case had a clear message for state Attorney General Patrick Lynch in a motion filed Wednesday.

Sherwin-Williams is requesting that two portions of DuPont's settlement with the State be removed because they serve only Lynch's interests. DuPont settled before the State's trial against several paint companies, three of which were found liable for creating a public nuisance when they manufactured lead paint.

Sherwin-Williams filed two motions Wednesday -- one to value the DuPont settlement and another to stay the lead paint abatement process ordered by Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein.

"In addition to valuing the overall DuPont settlement, Sherwin-Williams also moves to disgorge two monetary amounts from the settlement that were improperly diverted to two purely private purposes, to satisfy either the Attorney General's or the State's counsel's private interest," attorneys for Sherwin-Williams wrote.

First is $2.5 million earmarked to pay Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Sherwin-Williams says the money is used to satisfy a pledge made previously by Motley Rice, the plaintiffs firm hired by the State to pursue the case on a contingency fee basis.

Motley Rice counsel John McConnell is a campaign contributor to Lynch.

"This contribution has no connection whatsoever to Rhode Island lead paint issues, and the Attorney General had admitted that he knew of no benefit that Rhode Island citizens will receive from this out-of-state contribution," the motion says.

The second is an allotment of $1 million to Brown University, Lynch's alma mater.

"There is absolutely no basis in the law for an Attorney General to sue in the name of the State and then cut a deal whereby settlement money from the case is diverted to third parties, particularly an out-of-state third party," the motion says. "The Attorney General is required to deliver monetary recoveries to the State's General Fund.

"The Attorney General and his contingent fee counsel cannot bypass the General Assembly and the State's budget process and wheel and deal with State monetary recoveries."

NL Industries and Millennium Holdings are the other paint manufacturers found liable. Their appeal is pending before the state's Supreme Court.

Lynch proposed a $2.4 billion abatement plan that Sherwin-Williams is attempting to stay until another company, Cyanamid, has its trial. Only then, Sherwin-Williams says, will each company know what it must contribute to the abatement process.

"(I)t is specifically because of those prior rulings, and, in particular, the decision to try Cyanamid's liability separately, that this motion has become necessary," the motion says. "All five defendants were alleged to be liable for a singular public nuisance. The liability of the remaining defendant must be resolved by a jury before a remedy phase can properly begin."

Filed Under: Hot Topics


COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE:

No comments have been posted in the last 15 days!

SEND US YOUR COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE:


* - Required fields

Subject: *
Message: *
Contact Name: *
Contact URL:
Contact Email: *
This Is CAPTCHA Image
Write the characters in the image above: 

E-mail this article to a friend | Printer friendly format

MORE NEWS HEADLINES:
+ Law professor says less is more in consumer protection law - 6/10  
+ Cook blames pirate attack on employer, shipowner - 4/29  
+ Obama to target credit card companies - 4/19  
+ Analyst: Former insurance company lawyer's appointment 'no big de... - 4/17  
+ Former insurance lawyer's legislative appointment sparks debate - 4/14  
+ Web seminar focuses on dealing with AGs' growing power - 3/31  
+ Chesapeake partly blames verdict for W.Va. exit - 2/26  
+ Former eBay CEO to run in 2010 - 2/9  
+ Daschle nomination hits tax snag - 1/31  
+ Agreement between Pa. Gov. and plaintiffs firm again challenged - 1/22  


IN THE SPOTLIGHT:
Monday, June 29, 2009
WASHNGTON (Legal Newsline) - The federal government plans to withhold nearly a half-million dollars the next time it doles out Medicaid funding to the State of West Virginia as a result of a settlement engineered by state Attorney General Darrell McGraw.
Read more...


+ The Libby verdict: Did the judge play favorites? - 6/2
+ Sotomayor can expect plenty of scrutiny - 5/26
+ The Libby verdict: Prosecutors make a fatal mistake - 5/21
+ California judge accuses asbestos firms of playing 'grisly games' - 5/5
+ GOP calls for outside counsel reform in wake of Rendell controversy - 4/23
BROWSE BY STATE:
 
BROWSE BY AG:
 
BROWSE BY DATE:
 
LATEST LNL BLOG ENTRIES:
+ Abbott: Beware Dietary Supplement Scams and 'Miracle' Health Claims
+ Abbott's signs of a scam
+ AG McCollum on convicts in the mortgage industry
NEWS WIDGET:
Attention bloggers:
Add Record Headlines to your site!


fast + free- click here

NEWS | CONTACT LEGALNEWSLINE | ABOUT US | ADVERTISE | RSS © 2008 LegalNewsLine.com. All Rights Reserved.