For whom does Sen. Orrin Hatch work? One of his employers appears to be the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.
In mid-May, Hatch voted with all the Senate Democrats to defeat a tax bill amendment that would have been a modest move toward tort reform.
The amendment would have put a $2,500 per-hour limit on lawyers' share of awards that total more than $100 million. Some lawyers (hold your breath) are presently receiving $100,000 an hour from the tobacco settlement.
Bottom line: Sen. Hatch apparently opted to support the interests of the trial lawyers rather than the interests of the state he is supposed to represent. Could the approximately $600,000 he has received from lawyers since 1997 have something do with it?
Paul H. Schneiter
Provo