The St. Louis Dispatch recently covered a conference focusing on class action suits and asbestos-related litigation in Madison County. The conference was organized by Washington Univeristy’s Trial and Advocacy Program, the Journal of Law and Policy and the Coalition for Litigation Justice.

Griffin B. Bell, a former US attorney general said places such as Madison County, which has a growing reputation for large judgments against defendants, bring a “stain on our system.”

Bell was taken by Plaintiff’s trial lawyers who noted Bell works at a law firm whose clients include asbestos defendants. They accused Bell of shilling for corporate America.

Here is taste of the give and take reported by the Dispatch:

“You are a corporate advocate,” attorney Randall Bono shouted across the table at Bell. “I trust the American judicial system because I trust my fellow citizens to do the right thing.”

Bono said that recent attacks on Madison County’s legal system have been prompted by the tobacco industry. Philip Morris lost a $10.1 billion class action case in Madison County last year; two other tobacco companies face similar suits in the county.

“With all due respect to Judge Bell, he has never been to Madison County, he has never practiced there,” Bono said to an audience of more than 125 people. “He doesn’t really have a clue what’s going on there.”

Asked about the possibility of a federal investigation, Bono said: “I don’t care. Bring ’em on. We have nothing to hide. But why not investigate whether the tobacco industry is financing this campaign against Madison County?”

The report included a list of the players at the conference:

Bell, who was U.S. attorney general from 1977 to 1979. Bell now serves as senior counsel for the Atlanta law firm of King & Spalding, whose clients include two frequent asbestos defendants, Georgia-Pacific Corp. and Honeywell International.

Bono, who won a $250 million judgment against U.S. Steel last year for an Indiana man suffering from mesothelioma, an unusual lung cancer that was attributed to exposure to asbestos. The case was later settled for less than $50 million.

Steve Katz, a partner with the St. Louis law firm of Korein Tillery, which won the class action suit against Philip Morris.

Ed Murnane, president of the Illinois Civil Justice League.

Gail Renshaw, of the Lakin Law Firm in Wood River, which has filed a majority of the class action suits pending in Madison County.

Victor Schwartz, a partner at Shook, Hardy & Bacon and counsel for the Coalition for Litigation Justice.

Katz may have hit the nail on the head as far as asbestos victims are concerned:

Katz said that civil litigation is one of the few ways for consumers to gain leverage against a company they believe has cheated them. He said there has been a steady decline in consumer protection.

“What we’re seeing here is an attempt to squash out pockets of resistance” to that decline, he said.