Edwards and Trial Lawyer Money

Speaking of trial lawyers and John Edwards, I thought I would lookup some of John Edward’s contributors on the FEC’s website. Like many campaigns (on both the right and the left) corporations and law firms will typically “pool” their contributions when the campaign solicitor comes knocking. Take, for instance, the multi-city Law Firm of Lopez, Hodes, Restaino, Milman & Skikos. Here is just a sampling of the contributions that their lawyers have made.

Janet Abaray

$500 – Gephardt

$2000 – Edwards

$1000 – Kerry

Ramon Lopez

$2000 – John Edwards

$1000 – Kerry

$2000 – Edwards (6/5/2002)

Daniel Hodes

$1000 – Gephardt

$2000 – John Edwards (6/5/2002)

$1000 – John Edwards (3/5/2002)

$2000 – Edwards (3/7/2003)

$500 – Kerry (5/8/2004)

John Retaino

$2000 – Edwards (9/30/2003)

Jeffrey Milman

$2000 – Edwards (3/7/2003)

$2000 – Edwards (6/5/2002)

Steven Kikos

$2000 – Edwards (3/7/2003)

Cristina Lopez Fountain

$2000 – Edwards (6/5/2002)

$2000 – Edwards (3/7/2003)

Thomas Schultz

$500 – Kerry (3/5/2002)

$2000 – Edwards (3/7/2003)

$2000 – Edwards (6/5/2002)

Mark Crawford

$2000 – Edwards (3/7/2003)

Melinda Nokes

$2000 – Edwards (3/7/2003)

Jennifer Johnson

$2000 – Edwards (3/7/2003)

I stopped after nearly $35,000 but I could have kept going. Again, there’s nothing inherently wrong with this. All of the contributors were lawyers of the firm. But there are some questions about certain related contributions. See for example: Jaime Lopez, a homemaker who lives in Newport Beach, CA (as does Roman Lopez – see above). She gave $2000 on the same day that Ramon did. Also Kathleen and Marie Lopez have $2000 each. Spouse and family giving are common, but decidedly untoward.

More importantly, the reputation of the firm brings into question the type of contributions being made by trial lawyers. Lopez et al. claim to litigate everything from “Ephedra” to “Firestone”, from “Toxic Mold” to “Medical Malpractice.” Especially medical malpractice.

How about the $4 Billion global settlement with American Home Products? Or the $10 million jury award for a failure to diagnose cervical cancer? Or the millions of dollars won against prescription drugs? These guys strike me as the quintessential ambulance chasers. More to come…