WSJ Editorial Blasts Possible ‘Bill Lerach Tax Cut’
A report that the U.S. Treasury Secretary is considering an order that will give a tax break to plaintiffs lawyers has one newspaper’s editorial writers expressing outrage.
The director of federal relations for the American Association for Justice, John Bowman, revealed during the group’s convention that Treasury may issue the order, anonymous sources told LegalNewsline, a news blog owned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. A Treasury spokesman did not comment on the report in response to a call from LegalNewsline.
The tax break could be similar to proposed legislation that would allow contingency lawyers to deduct lawsuit expenses as incurred, according to the Forbes blog On the Docket.
A Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) editorial blasts the idea, calling it a “Bill Lerach tax cut.” The newspaper says the proposed legislation “went nowhere, as even Democrats were too embarrassed to embrace such a blatant handout to the zillionaire likes of felons Dickie Scruggs, Mel Weiss and Bill Lerach.”
