Baron & Budd Asbestos Memo - Dismissal of Charges

Dismissal of Charges

Judge John McClellan Marshall, who first learned of the memo from defense counsel in the case where it was produced, called the memo "scandalous to the community as well as to the profession," and "an affront to the integrity of the judicial system," and referred it to a grand jury for possible prosecution and to a state bar grievance committee. In response to the affidavits from Baron & Budd's experts, the state bar grievance committee dismissed the charges. The Dallas Observer reports that because of "politics", the local DA dropped it, requiring the prosecution to be transferred to the Clinton Administration in 1998. Baron & Budd and Association of Trial Lawyers of America made political contributions to the Congressional campaign of the U.S. Attorney's wife, Regina Montoya, and Paul Coggins recused himself from the case as a result; the Dallas Observer quotes critics who say that the Democratic administration soft-pedaled the case, which was never investigated. Judge Marshall had been re-elected twice without opposition in 1992 and 1996, but in 2000, Baron & Budd successfully targeted Judge Marshall for defeat; the Dallas Observer reports a lawyer close to the case saying that "No judge in Dallas will cross Baron & Budd after what happened in that election. They are scared to death." Local Texas judges blocked civil discovery into the production and use of the memo. Attorneys for private clients who attempted to investigate the memo found that both they and their clients were targeted heavily by Baron & Budd. The defendants agreed to replace the attorneys who had investigated Baron & Budd with new attorneys who would not pursue the matter further. And the Dallas Observer reported that the firm responded to its reporting with "a pattern of intimidation and paranoia such as the Observer has never seen before."