Former Air Force official Darleen Druyun, has recently pleaded guilty to favoring Boeing Co. on several contracts because the company gave jobs to members of her family and then hired her after she retired from the Department of the Air Force.
I find it quite interesting that while her case creates a nation-wide scandal with criminal charges filed, a similar case involving the recusal of Judge Wolin in the nation’s largest omnibus asbestos bankruptcy hearing has largely been unreported and unpursued by our media or our justice system.
I downloaded the following gem from pointoflaw.com.. Perhaps a legal expert can explain the difference between these cases to me, because I smell fish.
July 30, 2004
Rebuked asbestos judge joins asbestos advisory firm
Back in June — before our site was launched to the public — I wrote about the Third Circuit’s disqualification of Senior District Judge Alfred M. Wolin from presiding over 3 of 5 consolidated asbestos bankruptcy proceedings, for Owens Corning, W.R. Grace, and USG Corp. As I noted then:
“A writ of mandamus to disqualify a judge is an extraordinary remedy, only granted when the reviewing court finds ‘clear and indisputable evidence’ that a ‘reasonable person’ would conclude that a judge’s impartiality is in question.
“In this case, the court determined that Judge Wolin abused his discretion by relying on a five-member ‘Council of Advisors’ with whom he consulted about the case. The court ruled that two of the five advisors had a clear conflict of interest in that they also served as class counsel for asbestos plaintiffs on parallel but unrelated asbestos bankruptcy proceedings.”
Judge Wolin subsequently retired from the bench.
This Wednesday, in a disheartening but hardly shocking turn of events, the retired judge announced that he would join the Newark law firm Saiber Schlesinger Satz & Goldstein, where his son also works. The firm was one of the “advisors” Judge Wolin brought in to help him with the asbestos bankruptcy cases. Readers are left to form their own conclusions…
Posted by James R. Copland at 12:09 PM | TrackBack (0)
categories:
Asbestos
Attorneys’ Fees and Ethics
Products Liability
We have updated our privacy policy to be more clear and meet the new requirements of the GDPR. By continuing to use our site, you accept our revised Privacy Policy.
Former Air Force official Darleen Druyun, has recently pleaded guilty to favoring Boeing Co. on several contracts because the company gave jobs to members of her family and then hired her after she retired from the Department of the Air Force.
I find it quite interesting that while her case creates a nation-wide scandal with criminal charges filed, a similar case involving the recusal of Judge Wolin in the nation’s largest omnibus asbestos bankruptcy hearing has largely been unreported and unpursued by our media or our justice system.
I downloaded the following gem from pointoflaw.com.. Perhaps a legal expert can explain the difference between these cases to me, because I smell fish.
July 30, 2004
Rebuked asbestos judge joins asbestos advisory firm
Back in June — before our site was launched to the public — I wrote about the Third Circuit’s disqualification of Senior District Judge Alfred M. Wolin from presiding over 3 of 5 consolidated asbestos bankruptcy proceedings, for Owens Corning, W.R. Grace, and USG Corp. As I noted then:
“A writ of mandamus to disqualify a judge is an extraordinary remedy, only granted when the reviewing court finds ‘clear and indisputable evidence’ that a ‘reasonable person’ would conclude that a judge’s impartiality is in question.
“In this case, the court determined that Judge Wolin abused his discretion by relying on a five-member ‘Council of Advisors’ with whom he consulted about the case. The court ruled that two of the five advisors had a clear conflict of interest in that they also served as class counsel for asbestos plaintiffs on parallel but unrelated asbestos bankruptcy proceedings.”
Judge Wolin subsequently retired from the bench.
This Wednesday, in a disheartening but hardly shocking turn of events, the retired judge announced that he would join the Newark law firm Saiber Schlesinger Satz & Goldstein, where his son also works. The firm was one of the “advisors” Judge Wolin brought in to help him with the asbestos bankruptcy cases. Readers are left to form their own conclusions…
Posted by James R. Copland at 12:09 PM | TrackBack (0)
categories:
Asbestos
Attorneys’ Fees and Ethics
Products Liability
——————————————————————————–
Published by the Manhattan Institute