Wayne Slater of the Dallas Morning News had an interesting article about a new study that found that the the biggest donors to Texans for Lawsuit Reform - whose agenda is curbing lawsuits against business by injured people -- are themselves active users of the court system. While the group's agenda has been to limit personal-injury lawsuits against business, it generally has not sought to restrict suits filed by businesses themselves. The group raised nearly $7 million, which it gave to political candidates. Forty top donors accounted for 81 percent of the group's money in the 2010 election cycle, according to the study by Texans for Public Justice, a nonprofit group that tracks campaign contributions.
Among those big donors was H. Ross Perot Jr., who went to court to defend his business interests over creation of Victory Park and the American Airlines Center . Perot gave the anti-lawsuit group $250,000.
Energy Transfer Partners' Kelcy Warren was among executives of the company who went to court in an unsuccessful bid to recoup money from bankrupt Lehman Brothers.
Plano banker Andrew Beal has gone to court in fights over a casino and over mortgage loans. Beal supported TLR to the tune of $100,000.
The biggest contributor to Texans for Lawsuit Reform in the last election cycle was Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons, who gave $825,000. Simmons is the developer of a nuclear waste disposal site in West Texas and is seeking permission to import waste from at least 36 states.
