News you probably missed: Big shot Democrat trial lawyer accused of sex abuse
Madison County, Illinois is a place you may not have heard about. It's not the county with those covered bridges. That one is of course in central Iowa.
From the Chicago Sun-Times in 2004:
Madison County is a small place, directly across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, with only 260,000 residents. That makes it smaller than DuPage or Lake County. But it has a huge judicial reputation. More class action lawsuits, medical malpractice suits, and asbestos suits are filed in Madison County than in any other place in America -- more than in New York City, Chicago or Los Angeles.
Madison County is the most plaintiff-friendly place in America. The American Tort Reform Association calls it "the No. 1 hell hole in the country."
Very few of he plaintiffs actually live in, or near, Madison County.
One of Madison County's top law firms is the Lakin Law Firm of Wood River.
From Saturday's Belleville News-Democrat:
A Madison County judge on Friday unsealed a secret lawsuit that accuses prominent lawyer L. Thomas Lakin of sexually abusing minors and alleges the powerhouse law firm he established helped cover up the abuse.
The 37-page complaint names Lakin -- long influential in county and state Democratic circles -- the Wood River law firm and Lakin's sons, Brad Lakin and Kristopher Lakin, as defendants. The firm and both sons are accused of trying to cover up evidence of the sexual abuse.
The case was filed last month but dismissed. Tom Keefe, an attorney for one of the plaintiffs, intends to refile the suit.
More from the News-Democrat:
The complaint accuses Thomas Lakin of engaging in sexual relations last year with a minor boy referred to as John Doe, and of staging sex acts between the boy and another minor; between a minor girl and other minors, and between minors and adult women while he watched.
It also alleges Lakin gave alcohol and cocaine to a minor girl listed as Jane Doe, watched her have sex and called out sexual instructions while he masturbated and asked whether it was pleasurable. It accuses Kristopher Lakin of having "an inappropriate sexual relationship" with Jane Doe.
The paper in a separate article notes that Tom Lakin is a former member of the Democratic National Committee. Lakin and the firm have deep pockets for Democratic candidates, giving $260,000 to the campaign of Democrat Gordon Maag for his 2004 Ill. Supreme Court race. Maag lost, tort reform was the big issue in that contest.
Although Sunday he distanced himself from the firm, close ally to Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich, State Rep. Jay Hoffman, is listed as "of counsel" for the firm.
I hate to be cynical, but if this was a law firm representing corporations, with similar ties to the Republican Party, do you think the story would be covered by the New York Times?
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