Ex-Associate Testifies PI Lawyer Disappointed by ‘Lousy $41 Million’ in Fees
A onetime associate who worked for personal injury lawyer George Fleming revealed in courtroom testimony Wednesday that his onetime boss was disappointed about “a lousy $41 million” in fees earned in a fen-phen case.
Jim Doyle testified Wednesday about fees and expenses in a fen-phen settlement obtained on behalf of 8,100 plaintiffs represented by Fleming, the Houston Chronicle reports. Ten of the former plaintiffs have sued Fleming, claiming they didn’t learn until after the settlement that the plaintiffs were charged for echocardiograms performed on 35,000 people who were rejected as clients because they were healthy.
Doyle said he left Fleming’s firm because he disagreed with the decision to charge the fen-phen plaintiffs for tests given to rejected clients, the story says. He also recalled that Fleming was disappointed because he had earned only $41 million in fees after expenses in the case. “He said he had worked too long and too hard for a lousy $41 million,” Doyle testified.
Lawyers representing Fleming argued the negative echocardiograms benefited Fleming’s clients because they demonstrated the credibility of the testing procedure.
