Judges Set Carmouche's Fees. He Invests in Them.
Trial Lawyer John Carmouche Said "The Taxpayers Have to Pay the Bill" for his coastal lawsuits. His firm invests heavily in the judges who may set his fees.
Last week, we took a look at the Freeport-McMoRan settlement deal, and who would ultimately pay for trial lawyer John Carmouche's fees in that case, since the proposed settlement deal didn't include a fee for him.
Carmouche made very clear that you, the taxpayer, will be on the hook for paying him, saying "I’ve Said It 50 Times, I’ll Say It Again. I’ll Go Under Oath...The Only Way This Happens Is The Taxpayers Have To Pay The Bill.”
The settlement makes clear that any fees paid to Carmouche would be set by a judge, at a later date- and to be paid by taxpayers. Carmouche and the other trial laywers involved in the cases have made sure to invest in those Judges who, it just so happens, will decide their payouts if the settlement goes into effect.
As we've discussed previously, Carmouche and his associates have heavily invested in Judicial races in Louisiana, contributing to nearly 60% of the judges in the parishes that have filed coastal lawsuits, to the tune of $3,000,000 since 2012 between the coastal law firms and the PACs that fund them.
In the last couple of years, Carmouche and his law firm have kept up their prolific spending in Judicial races, directly contributing another $25,000 to judicial candidates in special elections since 2021. This data only covers contributions to judicial candidates- who not only will have a role in deciding the 42 coastal lawsuits Carmouche is involved in, but also how much he gets paid. He and his associates have dumped hundreds of thousands more into local officials and legislative races, which we'll be looking at soon.
Of course, Carmouche, never one to shy away from blatant hypocrisy, likely sees nothing wrong with giving tens of thousands of dollars to the very judges who will eventually decide his payout. After all, that's just good investing.
You can read all of our previous stories on Louisiana's job-killing trial-lawyers here.
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