Political Quotes

“Mr. Taylor, in stating the case for limitations on lawyers' fees, sets up the five fundamental arguments against doing so and deals with each of those five. The first is, ``Don't mess with the marketplace''--that these were accounts freely entered into. In the first place, I am not sure that there was a great deal of ``marketplace'' in connection with litigation much of which was solicited by the lawyers themselves. But in any event, the marketplace disappears with this legislation. There is no real marketplace for tobacco products anymore. It will be the most regulated marketplace for any legal commodity in the United States, far exceeding the degree of regulation applied to alcohol and alcoholic beverages, for example. So if we can regulate the marketplace for tobacco, we can regulate the marketplace for tobacco lawyers. The second objection that is brought up is that these are sacrosanct contract rights. But, of course, these are contract rights that are subject to review by the courts, by the judges who are dealing with this litigation. There have already been judgments made in that connection. The law is clear that attorneys' fees must be reasonable. And when they are unreasonable or overreaching, the courts, with their equity powers, said, ``We can intervene.'' Well, then, Mr. President, it seems to me that we can intervene as well. We represent the conscience of the people of the United States.”