Litigation

New to the Pennsylvania Association For Justice ranks is Forge Consulting, LLC. 

Shouldn't it be disturbing to the public and association members that the Pennsylvania Association for Justice appears to have overlooked the business ethics of a "partner" for the mere price of a significant financial contribution?

Benjamin Disraeli once said: "The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example".

Shouldn't it be disturbing to association members, who seek the public trust, that their professional association is characterizing someone (or some company) as "a hero", and permitting an advertisement by THEM on its website that is an outright lie ( specifically the falsehood that Forge Consulting "is the first major new firm in the structured settlement firm in more than a decade")? The same lie has been perpetuated and displayed on the Forge Consulting web site and on the web sites of other trial lawyer associations for years. The common thread among these professional associations of trial lawyers is that each has apparently have accepted large financial donations from Forge Consulting. Forge even brags about such donations on its web site.

Only last year Pennsylvania Association For Justice "hero" John Bair and Forge solicited New York State Trial Lawyers using the now notorious John Edwards' name with the false implication that John Edwards actually did structured settlement business with them. Download forge_feb_21_2007_letterny_statejohn_bair.pdf  Edwards and his campaign were evasive when questioned repeatedly about the relationship with Forge Consulting. The known bundler for Edwards removed the "testimonial" under pressure after it had the opportunity to milk what appeared to be a paid endorsement, since the possibility of Edwards actually using Forge to be able to authenticate their qualities, was mathematically impossible.

The Treasurer of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice, Mr, Ken Rothweiler is quoted as saying that he is "greatly impressed with the company's singular dedication to plaintiffs".  The following declarations signed by Forge Consulting President John T. Bair, under the federal perjury statute, suggest a reason to question the endorsement of the man, who may be a good lawyer, but c'mon , as Treasurer*, he "cashes the checks" for Pennsylvania Association for Justice! Concurrent with signing of these declarations the company continously maintained (at least to trial lawyers and tort victims all over the country) that it represented plaintiffs exclusively.

Download 2006_bair_doj_50.24 Declaration.pdf

Download 2005_bair_doj_50.24 Declaration.pdf   Approximately 2.5 months after signing this declaration, on May 20, 2005, Bair appeared in a recorded interview with the President of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys  on her Legal Talk Network show "Power of Attorney", and made statements which appeared to contradict the declaration he made under penalty of perjury to the United States Department of Justice. Here's how the story was covered after the disturbing discovery was uncovered last September.

Have the standards for heroes dropped in Pennsylvania?

"Heroes are not known by the loftiness of their carriage; the greatest braggarts are generally the merest cowards". Jean Jacques Rousseau

*he's cited by Forge as Treasurer, but listed as Secretary somewhere else