Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: “What are the defendants scared of? What are the Enrons of the world trying to hide? What are the accounting firms trying…”

“What are the defendants scared of? What are the Enrons of the world trying to hide? What are the accounting firms trying to hide? What do the chemical manufacturers want to hide from the public? Why will they not accept fair and reasonable disclosure of the fees charged by defense counsel? That is because defense counsel is charging $750 an hour, $500 an hour, $450 an hour, countless hours with scores of attorneys, most of them not doing any work. If we are going to have transparency, if you are really interested in good public policy, if you really want to know how much fees are being paid, you should stand up there and do the right thing and say, we agree that the defense should reveal and show how much the defense is getting in addition to what the plaintiffs are getting.”