Casualty of a war that fizzled Houston Chronicle Copyright 2012 Houston Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 9:29 p.m., Sunday, October 28, 2012 Ten years ago, before a federal judge in Corpus Christi brought a sudden halt to the strange business that was silicosis litigation, Todd Hoeffner was a successful if largely unknown Houston lawyer who had figured out how to make a nice living off a system that seemed all but rigged in his favor. Just like countless thousands of asbestos lawsuits that had choked the courts a decade or two earlier, the ones alleging an epidemic of previously undiagnosed silicosis held the promise of easy money based on the simple premise that too much volume forces settlements. Though deprived of a chance to directly tell his side - how he had allegedly been shaken down for money by two of the company's claims managers, then accused of bribery as part of an effort to cover up more wrongdoing - he did get some money. [...] it was the notion that the payments were not simple bribes but demands bordering on extortion that others, including federal prosecutors, found hard to swallow. Since those payments first came to light during an internal Hartford investigation, Hoeffner has acknowledged his mistake, admitting it was born of expediency and was unethical. The Hartford's outrageous and extreme conduct caused Hoeffner to pay over $3 million in extortion payments that he should not have had to pay but for The Hartford's conduct (and) resulted in Hoeffner being indicted on bribery/kickback allegations that the government later abandoned because they were not true. Hartford denies any misconduct and continues to claim Hoeffner was a willing participant in the payment scheme that inflated the value of claims. Hartford, in fact, later backed off that assertion and apparently had no problem in settling Hoeffner's cases that were not handled by the two disgraced managers even though those settlement amounts were higher. The entire enterprise reeked of deceit and fraud, Jack said, in no small part because silicosis, the respiratory disease that can be caused by prolonged exposure to fine particles of sand, is relatively rare. How could there be tens of thousands of valid lawsuits when the Occupational Health and Safety Administration said there should only be a handful of cases a year? Eventually Hoeffner agreed to temporarily give up his license, admit minor legal infractions in exchange for pre-trial diversion and pay for the cost of his federal trial.
Topics: copyright updated october ten corpus christi todd hoeffner jack occupational health safety administration eventually hoeffner houston chronicle hoeffner hartford the hartford the casualty of a war that fizzled federal pay silicosis money payments conduct managers claims extortion caused lawsuits cases thousands part simple
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