Kent Conrad: “I just want to direct my final remarks to those who may think, as I do, that some lawyers are in line for unjust…”

“I just want to direct my final remarks to those who may think, as I do, that some lawyers are in line for unjust enrichment. I tell you it makes my blood boil to hear lawyers in Texas may get $2 billion. That is outrageous. That is unconscionable. I do not believe it is going to happen. That matter is on appeal. In Florida, when the lawyers there submitted bills like that, the court said it was unconscionable and told them to forget it. That is what every State court ought to do when presented with unconscionable claims by lawyers in these cases. I have to say to my colleagues who are thinking about voting for this amendment, you are going to have to be able to go back home and justify the Senate of the United States saying $4,000 an hour is OK. I do not believe it is. I do not believe you can justify going back home and saying, yes, I voted for an amendment that would provide $4,000 an hour for any case filed before 12-31 of 1994. I do not think people in my State would think the Senate ought to say, well, $4,000 an hour is OK for every case filed before 12-31 of 1994. Boy, I tell you, the best lawyers in my State bill about $150 an hour.”