Document Y9eg03w1oBKGEeKRM8Lr7kXYV

BENJAM IN B. TAYLOR CHARLES VERNON PORTER LAURANCE W. BROOKS JAM ES R. FULLER CHARLES W. PH ILLIP S WILLIAM O. RANOOLPH BEN. B.TAYLO R, J R . i ADA MOTT LAW OFFICES T y l o r Po r t e r .Br o o k s 8e Fu l l e k LO U ISIA N A NATIONAL BANK B U IL D IN G Ba t o n Rouge .Lo u is ia n a _ Sept ember 17, 1946. PO ST OFFICE BOX 2 0 7 0 T E L E P H O N E 3-3-411 Dr. Robert A. Kehoe Ke tte rin g Labo rato ry, Co lle ge of Me dicine , Un ive rs ity o f Cin c in n a ti, Eden Avenue Cin cin n a ti 19 Ohio. Dear Dr. Kehoe: In view of our e xpe rie nce in the le ad po iso ning cas e , i t seems to me th at we should co nside r w e ll - in advance o f the t r i a l s o f the above re fe rre d to case s whether or not i t i s de s irable to E^te mpt^ocomoromise any' or a l l o f them. ( P a r e n t h e t i c a l l y , wi t h whose claim you are more than fa m ilia r , has not fi l e d s u it as y e t , but w i l l do so very s h o rtly , I am s u re ) . You w i l l r e c a ll th a t a fte r the t r i a l o f the cas e , you and I thought i t wise to compromise same in view o f h is blood pre ssure , p a rticu la rly on the d ia s to lic s id e . Me co uld probably have compromised th e case , be fore the t r i a l fo r le s s than i t co s t the de fe ndant, bat 'in any event we could have saved Coiirt c o s t s . As I have advise d you, the Erne st Taylo r case was p a r t i a l l y trie d in the Sta te Co u rt, 'apd the te stimony o f p l a i n t i f f ' s own p h y s icia n , Dr. Young, was quite favo rable to the de fe ndant. However, Mr. Hardin, p l a i n t i f f ' s ch ie f co un s e l, was unable to atte nd the t r i a l and depended on one o f h is a s s o cia te s , to do s o . The re afte r, I am sure he must have re a liz e d the weakness of the ca s e , and he dism isse d i t and r e fi l e d the s u it in th e Unite d Sta te s D i s t r i c t Co u rt. This was a ft e r the v e rd ict in th e Walter Johnson ca s e . I am co nfide nt th a t he w i l l send Tayldr to some do cto t who, in a l l p r o b a b ility , w i ll fin d something v it a lly wrpn^with the p la in t i ff. The fl P H B B c a s e has a ls o been r e fi le d in the Unite d State s D i s t r i c t Ub u rt, and both i t and the Taylo r case w i l l be tr ie d ' K 0 0017144 Dr. Robert A. Kehoe, Page 2 . be fore a Ju ry . The Wh itfie ld cas e is s t i l l pending in the Sta te Co urt. ' I sugge st th at th is would be a good time to have a l l fo ur o f the above named employees examined t o a s ce rta in th e ir pre se nt co n d itio n . I r e a li z e , o f co urs e , th a t so few o f the Baton Rouge doctors know anything about le ad po iso ning th a t we are lia b le to re ce ive some adverse diagno s e s , but we are going to have to do th is sooner or l a t e r . I do not think th a t we would secure an advantage by re fe rrin g the se men to a New Orleans do cto r, because he would probably not know any more about le ad po iso ning than the Baton Rouge do cto rs do. ' I would very much appre ciate your views in t h i s matte r in the l i g h t o f your and my e xpe rie nce in the Vo ste r Baker ca s e . I am se nding a copy o f t h i s l e t t e r to Mr. ED.aw, of th e du Pont Le gal Department, asking h is views as w e ll. Sin ce d ic ta tin g the above l e t t e r , I fin d th at my partn e r, Mr. P h i l l i p s , wrote Mr^ tla w ^ ^ th ^ 6 th in s ta n t w ith re fe re nce to compromising t h e c a s e . He s tate d in his l e t t e r th a t in h is opinion the case could be compromised fo r #2500. 00, plus m e d icale xo e n s e s ^w hich would be on s u b s ta n tia lly the same bas is as th e ^ flflH H | | H ^ case was compromised. We have not had a re p ly fr o in Sr . Haw as y e t . Vary tru ly yours cvp/ mr cc - Abe l Klaw, -Esq..' - Mr. H. B. Hunt C. V. Po rte r KE 0017145