10 Years Later, Karmeier Fight Has Same Flavor
From the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
For Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier, what’s past is prologue this election season.
Ten years after waging what was then the most costly state Supreme Court election in U.S. history, the southern Illinois Republican is fighting another expensive, nasty election battle in his retention campaign.
This time, his opponent isn’t a candidate. It’s a group of trial lawyers upset about his role in a pair of billion-dollar cases that have wound through the courts for years.
The group, Campaign for 2016, has so far raised about $1.3 million for its bid to unseat Karmeier, unleashing ads saying he took contributions from the defendants in the cases, Philip Morris USA and State Farm Insurance, and then overturned verdicts against them.
Clifford Law Offices; Power, Rogers & Smith P.C.; and attorneys at St. Louis-based Korein, Tillery LLC — which represents the plaintiffs in the Philip Morris case — have contributed to the group.
Both Chicago firms contributed $150,000 each. Two lawyers at the St. Louis firm gave a total of $700,000. South Carolina-based Richardson, Patrick, Westbrook & Brickman LLC has also donated $300,000 to the cause.
“Vote ‘no’ on Judge Karmeier,” one TV ad proclaims. “Our justice is not for sale.”
Karmeier addressed those accusations in a rare filing last month in which he rejected a recusal request from the Korein, Tillery lawyers in the Philip Morris case.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
For Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier, what’s past is prologue this election season.
Ten years after waging what was then the most costly state Supreme Court election in U.S. history, the southern Illinois Republican is fighting another expensive, nasty election battle in his retention campaign.
This time, his opponent isn’t a candidate. It’s a group of trial lawyers upset about his role in a pair of billion-dollar cases that have wound through the courts for years.
The group, Campaign for 2016, has so far raised about $1.3 million for its bid to unseat Karmeier, unleashing ads saying he took contributions from the defendants in the cases, Philip Morris USA and State Farm Insurance, and then overturned verdicts against them.
Clifford Law Offices; Power, Rogers & Smith P.C.; and attorneys at St. Louis-based Korein, Tillery LLC — which represents the plaintiffs in the Philip Morris case — have contributed to the group.
Both Chicago firms contributed $150,000 each. Two lawyers at the St. Louis firm gave a total of $700,000. South Carolina-based Richardson, Patrick, Westbrook & Brickman LLC has also donated $300,000 to the cause.
“Vote ‘no’ on Judge Karmeier,” one TV ad proclaims. “Our justice is not for sale.”
Karmeier addressed those accusations in a rare filing last month in which he rejected a recusal request from the Korein, Tillery lawyers in the Philip Morris case.
Read more in our daily News Update...