Weitz & Luxenberg P.C. is a large personal injury and medical malpractice law firm headquartered in New York, specializing in asbestos litigation. Overall, the firm has won over $6.5 billion for its clients. The firm also specializes in medical malpractice, consumer protection and environmental protection litigation. Erin Brockovich, the woman made famous by Julia Robert's portrayal of her in the movie Erin Brockovich, works with the firm on environmental cases as of 2008.
Video Weitz & Luxenberg P.C.
Overview
Weitz & Luxenberg is the largest law firm of its kind in New York state. Overall, the firm has won over $6.5 billion from lawsuits. The firm has 84 associate lawyers and 3 partners, with offices in Los Angeles, New York City, and Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The firm was founded in 1986 by Perry Weitz and Arthur Luxenberg.
The firm's specialty is suing companies that made asbestos or used asbestos products. For example, in 2011, the firm won a verdict against Goodyear Tire. The lawsuit claimed that two Goodyear employees, who were smokers, were exposed to asbestos while working at Goodyear. The verdict was $22 million.
Maps Weitz & Luxenberg P.C.
Perry Weitz
Perry Weitz's first job was at Morris Eisen, P.C., a law firm. In the 1990s, seven attorneys, investigators and office workers from Morris Eisen were convicted for a variety of crimes all centered around faking evidence. The defendants all appealed, and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions.
In confirming the convictions, the court wrote:
The methods by which the frauds were accomplished included pressuring accident witnesses to testify falsely, paying individuals to testify falsely that they had witnessed accidents, paying unfavorable witnesses not to testify, and creating false photographs, documents, and physical evidence of accidents for use before and during trial.
It should be noted that Perry Weitz was never charged or convicted. Morris Eisen, Weitz's father-in-law, served three years in prison.
In Perry Weitz's bio on the firm's website, the firm writes: "It can cause even the most ruthless corporate CEO to tug nervously at his shirt collar and gulp hard when told that squaring off against him in court will be the brawny, knock-out-king of a law firm co-founded in 1986 by super attorney Perry Weitz, Esq."
In a 2002 article by The New York Times, "A Surge in Asbestos Suits, Many by Healthy Plaintiffs," a law professor at Yeshiva University, Lester Brickman, said, "Sick people with legitimate claims represent a tiny fraction of the claims being brought." In response, Weitz was quoted in the article as saying, "Juries throughout the United States have said that these people deserve compensation . . . You really have to have faith in the jury system."
In 2002, The New York Times wrote: "Decades after American companies largely stopped using asbestos, a wave of asbestos-related lawsuits is again flooding the nation's courts."
According to The New York Post, in 2014 "Weitz & Luxenberg won a record $190 million in a consolidated trial for five mesothelioma victims who worked in different jobs for different employers."
In 2014, the firm got its clients $8.7 billion in verdicts and settlements. In 2010, that figure was $6.9 billion.
The firm's first large verdict involved an asbestos case from workers from the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The lawsuit was on behalf of 36 workers from the yard. In the end, the firm got the clients a total verdict of $75 million.
Suit on behalf of congresswoman
In June 2013, Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) announced to the public that she had lung cancer. That same year, McCarthy hired Weitz & Luxenberg to sue over 70 asbestos companies for her lung cancer. In her suit, McCarthy claims that asbestos, not smoking, gave her lung cancer. McCarthy's brothers and fathers worked on ships and in utilities. McCarthy claims in the lawsuit that asbestos fibers stuck to their clothing, were carried home, and caused her lung cancer.
Pre-packaged bankruptcies
Weitz & Luxenberg often advises companies it assists with pre-packaged bankruptcies to retain the services of Gilbert Heintz & Randolph (GHR) in order to make proceedings move faster. GHR specializes in litigating coverage disputes with insurance companies on behalf of asbestos defendants. GHR also serves as co-counsel for creditors. GHR played this very role in the Congoleum bankruptcy at the personal recommendation of Perry Weitz. GHR appointed its subsidiary, the Kenesis Group, to process the claims associated with the Congoleum bankruptcy. Kenesis was paid a flat-fee per claim processed. Congoleum's insurers challenged the appointment of GHR on the grounds that the bankruptcy code requires lawyers hired to represent debtors in possession to have no interests adverse to the estate and to be otherwise totally disinterested. Congoleum countered that GHR was merely special counsel and therefore subject to less stringent rules. The bankruptcy court ruled in favor of Congoleum. GHR later disclosed that it served as co-counsel with Weitz & Luxenberg for about 10,000 clients with claims against Congoleum.
Connections with Sheldon Silver
Sheldon Silver served as Speaker of the New York Assembly from 1994 to 2015. During his tenure as Speaker of the New York Assembly, Silver worked for Weitz & Luxenberg. In 2013, Silver earned between $650,000 and $750,000. In 2012, he earned between $350,000 and $450,000.
Indictment and arrest
In response to the arrest of Silver, the firm publicly said it was "shocked." After his arrest, Silver took a leave of absence from the firm.
Asbestos litigation in New York City
The majority of the firm's cases are heard in a special court within the Manhattan Supreme Court. The special court is called New York City Asbestos Litigation (NYCAL).
The Bates White Economic Consulting aggregated data from asbestos cases including cases litigated by the firm. In the NYCAL court, the average payout for an asbestos plaintiff was $16 million between 2010 and 2014. That figure is two to three times higher than the nationwide average.
Connection to NYCAL asbestos judge
Sherry Klein Heitler, who is the chief asbestos judge of NYCAL and the chief civil judge of the Manhattan Supreme Court, has heard dozens of the firm's cases.
In 2008, Jonathan Lippman (the chief judge of the New York State Court of Appeals) put Arthur Luxenberg (one of the two founders of Weitz & Luxenberg) on a committee in charge of recommending judicial appointments. Six months later, Judge Heitler was assigned to NYCAL. Before Heitler came to NYCAL, the court did not award punitive damages in asbestos cases. After she was assigned to NYCAL, the firm requested that punitive damages be allowed, and Heitler granted the firm's request.
Until 2014, a rule had existed that had banned punitive damages in asbestos litigation cases. The rule existed for 20 years. Weitz and Luxenberg asked Judge Heitler to reverse the rule. Heitler approved the request.
According to The New York Times:
Mesothelioma cases that had very little in common were consolidated, which pressured defendant companies to settle and, when they didn't, could lead to huge jury awards. According to a 2013 report by the American Tort Reform Association, the average jury award for an asbestos claim in New York City since 2007 is $21.7 million. That is "roughly seven times the $3.1 million average award in courts throughout the rest of New York State."
Venues
Madison County, Illinois
In 2012, the American Tort Reform Association ranked Madison County, Illinois, as the number three "judicial hellhole" in the United States. Madison County ranked behind the states of California and West Virginia.
Simmons Hanly Conroy is a law firm with six locations including in Madison County, Illinois and New York City. Between 2005 and 2015, Simmons Hanly Conroy filed more asbestos lawsuits in Madison County than any other firm. In March 2015, Simmons Hanly Conroy hired two lawyers from Weitz & Luxenberg. One of the lawyers, Daniel P. Blouin, won the largest consolidated asbestos verdict in the history of the state of New York (worth $190 million).
Asbestos bankruptcy trusts
Attorneys from Weitz & Luxenberg serve on fifteen trust advisory committees that govern asbestos bankruptcy trusts. The fifteen trusts advised by Weitz & Luxenberg paid $12.2 billion between 2006 and 2013. Weitz clients also receive payments from other trusts. These other trusts made $51.6 billion in payments over the same period. Plaintiff attorneys typical receive 25% of this money. Perry Weitz helped set up the trusts for Owens Corning, USG, and Kaiser Aluminum. The 15 trusts guided by Weitz have paid out $12.2 billion between 2006 and 2013. Other trusts, which may also pay Weitz clients, have doled out $51.6 billion, the report says. Lawyers typically get at least 25 percent of the payments.
In 2006, Weitz & Luxenberg won a $25 million verdict against DaimlerChrysler in Manhattan's special asbestos court. At trial Weitz denied that Johns Manville had any liability towards their client. A year after the trial Weitz filed a trust claim against Johns Manville for the same client.
Ford Motor Company accused Weitz & Luxenberg of engaging in misleading conduct in the case of Arthur Juni. Ford asked Judge Barbara Jaffe to reduce the $11-million verdict in the case because it believes the plaintiff could have filed claims with the Raybestos and Wagner bankruptcy trusts. Ford claimed that Juni was entitled to $125,000 from the Raybestos trust and between $100,000 and $300,000 from the Wagner trust. It was later determined that the Wagner trust is no longer accepting claims. Ford claimed that only "gamesmanship" could be the motive for not filing claims against these trusts. Ford relied on a 2014 ruling by Judge Hodges in the Garlock bankruptcy to show that delaying the filing of trust claims was a routine practice. Jaffe granted Ford's motion. The dollar amount of the previous verdict was overturned on appeal in a different proceeding.
References
External links
- Weitz and Luxenberg TV Commercials
- Weitz & Luxenberg campaign contributions - Influence Explorer (Sunlight Foundation)
- Weitz & Luxenberg YouTube channel
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