Troy King and Jere Beasley: Not Exactly BFF, But…
Alabama won a $215 million judgment in a suit against a drug company brought by AG Troy King in which the state was represented by Jere Beasley. “‘A grave misjustice has been righted,’ Alabama Attorney General Troy King said after hearing the verdict.”
Right wing Troy King and trial lawyer Jere Beasley? Not sure if that is the first or second most unusual pairing involving King, so I went to a legal guru who explained it to me:
Here’s the real background: These kinds of cases have been and are being brought by a bunch of states. In order to persuade a state to sue you have to convince the Attorney General to file suit. Several plaintiffs firms are handling these cases around the country. The traditional plaintiffs firms couldn’t even get a foot in the door with Troy King. So up steps the Hand Arendall firm out of Mobile. They are a silk stocking old line defense firm with very strong Republican roots. They got Troy on board and then associated Beasley to actually try the case (although Hand lawyer Caine O’Rear took a very active role in the case). I don’t believe that Beasley could ever have gotten Troy to go forward with these cases without Hand Arendall’s political connections.
And now we know.
The drug company, AstraZeneca, “is one of more than 70 drugmakers King sued in 2005 over drug prices for Medicaid recipients,” according to the AP story. AstraZeneca intends to appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court.
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In this time of dire need, I am sure these firms will gladly donate their fees to the state treasury.
Comment by walt moffett — February 25, 2008 @ 6:36 pm
Come now, they are much closer than one might think.
Comment by Anonymous — February 25, 2008 @ 7:57 pm
I hear Caine O’Rear was really the brains behind this whole case.
Comment by Anonymous — February 25, 2008 @ 9:14 pm
Re no. 3
Caine is that you?
he he
Comment by blue dotter — February 26, 2008 @ 12:26 pm