FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 16, 2003
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Jonathan Hutson, TLPJ, 202-797-8600 x 246
Arthur H. Bryant, TLPJ, 510-622-8150 x 202
2003 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award Finalists Announced
The TLPJ
Foundation has named the attorneys who worked on eight outstanding
cases as finalists for its 2003 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award. The
nationally prestigious award is bestowed annually upon the trial lawyer
or lawyers who have made the greatest contribution to the public
interest by trying or settling a precedent-setting case. The winner
will be announced on July 22, 2003, at The TLPJ Foundation's 21st Annual Awards Dinner and Party at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.
"These
exceptional attorneys exemplify how trial lawyers use their skills and
determination to create a more just society," said TLPJ Foundation
President Paul Stritmatter of Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Withey
Coluccio in Hoquiam, Washington.
The finalists --
41 lawyers in eight cases -- were nominated for their committed work in
cases addressing a broad range of social issues, including exposing
government misconduct, protecting access to health care, safeguarding
our civil rights, holding insurers and HMOs accountable, fighting for
workers' rights, holding corporations accountable, and battling Big
Tobacco. This year's finalists are listed alphabetically below.
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- D. Frank Winkles and Claude H. Tison, Jr. of Winkles Law Group, P.A. in Tampa, Florida set the stage for exposing an insurance giant's rampant bad faith practices in Tedesco v. The Paul Revere Life Insurance Co.,
winning a $36.7 million punitive damages verdict against an insurance
company that wrongfully denied disability payments to an
ophthalmologist disabled by Parkinson's disease and a back injury. The
factual record developed by the plaintiff's attorneys provided an
evidentiary trove for many nationwide cases that followed, helping
others win substantial verdicts against UNUM Provident, the parent
company of Paul Revere and the largest disability insurance company in
the world. This case, highlighted by CBS's "60 Minutes," stands as an
example of how tenacious trial lawyers can force corporate giants to
change their practices by making them pay for their wrongdoing.
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Trial
Lawyers for Public Justice is the only national public interest law
firm dedicated to using trial lawyers' skills and resources to advance
the public good. Founded in 1982, TLPJ utilizes a nationwide network of
more than 3,000 trial lawyers
to pursue precedent-setting and socially significant litigation. It has
a wide-ranging litigation docket in the areas of civil rights and
liberties, consumer rights, worker safety, toxic torts, environmental
protection, and access to the courts. TLPJ is the principal project of
The TLPJ Foundation, a not-for-profit membership organization. It has
offices in Washington, DC, and Oakland, CA. The TLPJ web site address
is www.tlpj.org.