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Settlements and the Ethical Burden on Attorneys   

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Settlements of litigation, whether funded by insurance or not, raise  ethical issues that all parties and their attorneys must deal with  before the settlement is effected. The decision to settle belongs to the  plaintiff. This is especially important in cases with multiple parties  and multiple attorneys.  The Third US Circuit Court of Appeals revived a proposed class action  suit against a group of attorneys from southern states brought by more  than 2,600 former clients from northern states who say they were cheated  out of their fair share of $400 million in asbestos personal injury  settlements in the Mississippi state courts when the attorneys gave  larger payouts to southern plaintiffs. The northern plaintiffs claimed  that their share was reduced because the southern attorneys wanted to  allocate a greater percentage of aggregate settlements to southerners in  order to minimize the percentages paid to the northern plaintiffs\\u2019  local counsel.  

The plaintiffs in Huber v. Taylor, 469 F.3d 67 (3d Cir. 10/31/2006) were  steelworkers from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana who joined a massive  Mississippi asbestos suit. The defendants were attorneys from  Mississippi, North Carolina, and Texas.  The suit alleged that the northern plaintiffs were never made aware of a  complex series of agreements between and among the attorneys that, they  say, ultimately led to their receiving smaller payouts than southern  plaintiffs. The northern plaintiffs had all retained attorneys in their  home states \\u2014 referred to in the case as \\u201clocal counsel\\u201d \\u2014 who had in  turn struck deals with a Texas attorney who served as co-counsel.  According to the suit, by cheating the northern plaintiffs of their fair  share, the southern attorneys saved more than $10 million that would  have been paid to the northern clients\\u2019 local counsel. 

\\xa9 2021 \\u2013 Barry Zalma  Barry Zalma, Esq., CFE, now limits his practice to service as an  insurance consultant specializing in insurance coverage, insurance  claims handling, insurance bad faith and insurance fraud almost equally  for insurers and policyholders.  He also serves as an arbitrator or mediator for insurance related  disputes. He practiced law in California for more than 44 years as an  insurance coverage and claims handling lawyer and more than 54 years in  the insurance business.  Subscribe to Excellence in Claims Handling at https://barryzalma.substack.com/welcome.  He is available at http://www.zalma.com and zalma@zalma.com. Mr. Zalma  is the first recipient of the first annual Claims Magazine/ACE Legend  Award. Over the last 53 years Barry Zalma has dedicated his life to  insurance, insurance claims and the need to defeat insurance fraud. He  has created the following library of books and other materials to make  it possible for insurers and their claims staff to become insurance  claims professionals.  Go to training available at https://claimschool.com; articles at https://zalma.substack.com,  the podcast Zalma On Insurance at https://anchor.fm/barry-zalma;  Follow Mr. Zalma on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bzalma; Go to Barry Zalma videos at https://www.rumble.com/zalma ; Go to Barry Zalma on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCysiZklEtxZsSF9DfC0Expg; Go to the Insurance Claims Library \\u2013 https://zalma.com/blog/insurance-claims-library/  The last two issues of ZIFL are available at https://zalma.com/zalmas-insurance-fraud-letter-2/  podcast now available at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/zalma-on-insurance/id1509583809?uo=4