Presidential Hopeful Relies on Group That Could Be Campaign Liability By Jim VandeHei Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, September 3, 2002; Page A04

Sen. John Edwards, one of several Democrats testing the 2004 presidential waters, has aligned himself closely to a potent but controversial group that will open him to political attacks if he jumps in: wealthy trial lawyers.

Edwards, who made a fortune as a trial lawyer, has turned to his former colleagues to finance his national political campaign while also fighting in Congress to defend their right to win huge courtroom verdicts against HMOs, doctors and others.

This tight relationship has helped Edwards make inroads in Iowa and other early primary states. But it's also emerging as a potentially nettlesome campaign issue as he nears a decision on whether to seek to challenge President Bush in 2004.

Indeed, an Edwards-Bush matchup would highlight one of the nation's most contentious policy debates: whether trial lawyers who seek multimillion-dollar rewards for victims are unfairly driving up health care costs and pushing doctors and other professionals out of business. Edwards's handling of attacks on his ties to the trial bar could pose an early test of his ability to play politics at the highest levels.

That debate is well underway. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which supports tougher limits on court-ordered payouts, plans to spend at least $5 million on ads attacking trial lawyers and supporting "tort reform" this fall. Bush himself already has suggested Edwards is a poster boy for greedy lawyers.

"I don't think Americans are ready to elect someone who represents a profession they don't like," says Republican consultant Frank Luntz, who has conducted polls and focus groups on Americans' opinions of trial lawyers. "People are coming to believe trial lawyers screw the little guy and keep the money for themselves."

Trial lawyers, who have become an increasingly important source of Democratic campaign money, represent victims of alleged negligence or malfeasance by corporations or professionals. They generally receive a hefty percentage of any court-awarded damages for their clients.

Edwards, 47, and other trial lawyers contend they simply get their clients the compensation they deserve for injuries caused by defective products, careless corporations or incompetent professionals. But Bush and most Republicans -- backed by corporate America -- contend that trial lawyers jack up court awards to unacceptable heights to increase their income.

Advisers to Edwards, a telegenic, first-term senator, are closely monitoring how the trial lawyer issue plays out in the early presidential jockeying. They contend it's a winner for the tanned Tar Heel because he has represented numerous children (or their families) harmed by decisions made by corporate executives -- who, they are quick to note, aren't the most popular bunch these days.

Edwards may prove a less-than-ideal target. The son of small-town textile worker, he became a prominent personal injury lawyer, often specializing in lucrative medical malpractice cases, and often on behalf of children. In perhaps his most famous case, he won a state-record $25 million settlement for a 5-year-old girl who lost much of her intestines after getting stuck in a swimming pool drain.

"This transforms it from being a weakness to be an extraordinary asset, when you look at his clients," says Harrison Hickman, Edwards's pollster.

In Congress, Edwards is leading the opposition to two of Bush's signature legal reforms: capping compensation for pain and suffering at $250,000 in medical malpractice suits, and making it harder for patients to sue HMOs. He's also front and center in opposing liability limits for companies hit by terrorist attacks.

Still, the president, perhaps with an eye on 2004, traveled to Edwards's home turf in July to announce his plan to fight trial lawyers over medical malpractice lawsuits.

"Health care costs are up because docs are worried about getting sued," Bush said in High Point, N.C. He cited as an example of the "litigation lottery" a $23 million jury verdict Edwards helped win for the parents of a baby born with severe brain damage caused by medical error.

In a sign of how he might respond in a presidential contest, Edwards acted quickly and unapologetically by bringing out the child's father for a chilling rejoinder. "What I heard was in some ways we're considered to be lottery winners," said Christopher Griffin, father of the baby girl who died a year and a half ago. "Every time I go to my daughter's grave, it's hard to feel that way."

It wasn't the first time Edwards had dealt with such critics. In his 1998 campaign that ousted Sen. Lauch Faircloth (R-N.C.), Edwards ran TV ads early and often emphasizing his help for the "little guy," said an adviser.

Anticipating tougher attacks if he runs for president, Edwards has had a political operative scour his legal record looking for potential trouble spots. Few were found, his supporters say.

Nonetheless, if opponents target the size of Edwards's court awards, aides say, he will try to steer the debate to the benefits derived by his injured clients. "He's proud of what he did for children and their families over the course of a couple of decades practicing law in North Carolina," says his spokesman Mike Briggs.

Regardless of the specifics of cases, Bush and his business allies believe Edwards's association with trial lawyers, who polls show are unpopular with voters, will be a liability.

They are gearing up for a massive campaign this fall to paint trial lawyers as the root of problems ranging from escalating medical costs to the growing number of small businesses going broke. Internal Chamber of Commerce documents show that several companies, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., DaimlerChrysler AG, Home Depot Inc. and the American Council of Life Insurers, have anonymously given at least $1 million each in recent years to fund the Institute for Legal Reform to combat trial lawyers. This campaign will coincide with Bush's effort to clamp down on what he sees as frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits

"He has to deal with that and do a lot to broaden his image beyond being a trial lawyer," said Don Fowler, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

One Democratic strategist said that, absent the discovery of any new "frivolous" case in Edwards's background, his biggest political vulnerability is his reliance on huge donations from rich lawyers.

Edwards has been on a fundraising frenzy over the last three months, raising nearly $2 million in "soft money" -- the type of donation soon to be banned, with three-quarters of it coming from trial lawyers.

GOP operatives are scrutinizing the backgrounds of his biggest donors.

Steve Bing, a Hollywood producer and top Democratic donor, sent Edwards a $250,000 check. But nearly every other dollar donated to Edwards's soft-money account since early 2001 came from trial lawyers -- $1,859,000 to be precise, according to the Public Citizen analysis.

He gets a much higher percentage of his money from lawyers than do other potential Democratic candidates, who rely more heavily on unions, businesses and individuals.

In the past three months, nearly two dozen lawyers have sent him checks of $25,000 or more. Four lawyers have given him $100,000 each. They include Fred Baron of Dallas, who has handled asbestos cases, and John E. Williams of Houston. Another Houston lawyer, John M. O'Quinn, who has helped sue tobacco companies, gave Edwards $50,000.

These soft-money donations have gone to a political action committee affiliated with Edwards, not to his official Senate campaign organization, where contributions are sharply limited. A new campaign finance law, which takes effect Nov. 6, will force Edwards and other federal candidates to rid themselves of all soft money by that date.

Democrats closely aligned with organized labor, such as Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.), could use the issue in the primary to play to union members who sometime feel the trial lawyers' agenda conflicts with their own, strategists say. And Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) or any other Democrat portraying himself as pro-business would likely flaunt Edwards's allegiance to the trial bar as a reason for corporations to oppose Edwards.

One Democrat said Edwards is gambling that the goodwill and greater visibility he's buying among Democrats now will outweigh the criticism he'll suffer later.

Edwards has given more than $190,000 to Democrats in Iowa and $35,000 to New Hampshire Democratic organizations, and he has spent nearly $300,000 to help cover travel and campaign costs for other state and local events. Hickman said what remains of the $2 million in soft money will go mostly to state parties and candidates by the Nov. 6 deadline.

-- Anonymous, September 03, 2002