They Changed The System But Not Soon Enough

As a young insurance defense attorney in the mid-1980s, one of my first jobs involved taking the depositions of 60 to 70 year old men who were suing asbestos manufacturers. Trust me, these guys weren't the hard core victims of asbestosis of the 1960s and 1970s, these were guys whose only complaints were "I suffer shortness of breath." I would ask "When?" and they would often reply "After climbing a flight of stairs." So, as I had been taught, I would ask, "Do you smoke?" "Yes, about a pack a day," I would often hear. And my skepticism was born. So why do I bring this up? Because I had to travel to the Dallas law offices of Baron & Budd to take the depositions. That firm had an incredible array of asbestos clients. And those lawyers got rich off of the asbestos industry. So, again, why do I bring this up? Because I just read this in the Dallas Morning News about Fred Baron of the above referenced Baron & Budd law firm. "So for Friday's Christmas party at Fred's Preston Hollow mega-estate, the couple [he and his wife] flew in the horn heavy band Chicago." Merry Christmas, indeed.