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2/19/98 KEN STARR HELPED GM CONCEAL DOCUMENTS U.S. Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr, who is also a senior partner with the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis, was involved in earlier General Motors efforts to conceal documents that were released yesterday by a Florida Judge. Starr's name appears on no fewer than a letter and six motions filed in 1994 with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Cameron v General Motors, a GM side-saddle fuel tank case in South Carolina. The motions seek confidential treatment of at least one of the GM documents released yesterday in Florida by Judge Arthur Franza. The plaintiffs' attorneys in Cameron v GM were J. Kendall and John Few of Greenville, SC and James E. Butler, Jr., of Atlanta, Ga. The case settled for an undisclosed amount. Click here to see the letter and the first page of each motion and the last page of each motion, with the names of Starr and/or Jay Lefkowitz, his former law clerk and currently a lawyer in the firm of Kirkland and Ellis. They are listed "as Attorneys for Petitioner General Motors Corporation."
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Attorney Few said that Special Prosecutor Kenneth W. Starr, appearing as counsel for General Motors in that case, "committed an obstruction of justice in his improper use of the attorney-client privilege to conceal the perpetration of perjury by GM Engineer Edward C. Ivey, in a series of 13 depositions and trial testimony in 9 states over a period of more than 13 years." Few stated that recently released documents and statements by GM attorneys during the on-going trial of McGee v. General Motors in Broward County, Florida "conclusively demonstrate that Mr. Starr was fully aware of Mr. Ivey's prior perjury, and actively, energetically and successfully undertook to conceal this perjury in his briefs to and appearance before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Spartanburg, South Carolina." Few said further that it was his "clear duty as an officer of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina to report the matter to the United States District Attorney in Columbia, South Carolina with the request that he convene a grand jury to take Mr. Starr's testimony under oath and to take such action as may be warranted under the circumstances." Few said he was "aware that the public disclosure of the facts in this matter will render us, both prey to the same sort of smear campaign that anyone who tries to tell the truth of this matter may reasonably expect," adding that "we are all accountable for our actions," so "let the chips fall wherever Newton's Universal Laws of Motion may direct them." Few also stated that he is filing today a Motion in Barnes v. General Motors, a pickup fire case pending in Columbia, South Carolina in which he represents the Estate of Jack E. Williams, the driver of this pickup, the motion being entitled "Motion For A Finding By The Court That General Motors And Its Regional Counsel Have Used The Attorney-Client Privilege For The Perpetration Of Perjury And Obstruction Of Justice." Few has authorized the public release of a series of letters and attachments outlining the proceedings in Cameron and related cases, his letter to the U.S. District Attorney, his motion together with interrogatories, deposition notices and subpoenas filed in Barnes v. General Motors. Those documents are available from Ralph Hoar & Associates, an Arlington, Virginia, product safety consulting firm. Few said his decision to refer the matter to the district attorney and to notice the deposition of Starr and seven other GM attorneys follows an exhaustive review of the correspondence, briefs, transcripts and oral arguments from a variety of trials. Few practices law in Greenville, South Carolina. He is former Editor-in-Chief of the South Carolina Law Review, Dean of the ATLA Products Liability College, Founder of American Jury Trial Foundation and recipient of the South Carolina Trial Lawyer's Distinguished Service and Founders Awards.
Supporting Documents:
Letter to U.S. District Attorney All reference documents for the Motion for a Finding by the Court that General Motors and its Regional Counsel have used Attorney-Client Privilege for the Perpetration of Perjury and Obstruction of Justice; and for Related Relief and for the letters from J. Kendall Few to Ralph are available from Ralph Hoar & Associates. To order these reference documents, click here.
Starr said defense attorneys "have a duty not to use their skills to impede the search for truth." "A good lawyer ... must urge the client against steps that are likely to impede the quest for truth," he said. "Imagine the disaster that would consume our profession, and indeed our society, if lawyers let down their moral guard and simply shrugged when clients declare, explicitly or implicitly, to commit perjury," Starr said. "At what point does a lawyer's manipulation of the system become an obstruction of the truth?" the independent prosecutor asked. Click here to read full article.
Posted 4/21/98 South Carolina attorney Kendall Few has cautioned the Justice Department that a "proper investigation of Mr (Kenneth) Starr's conduct" is "inconceivable" without a review of what Starr said when he defended General Motors in 1984 before the Fourth Circuit. "In order to ensure public confidence in the results of your investigation, a thorough analysis of the available evidence is essential," Few said in a letter to Richard M. Rogers, director of the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, urging the office to obtain a transcript of Starr's comments to the court. The U.S. Justice Department's Office of Professional Ethics is reviewing charges brought by South Carolina attorney J. Kendall Few that Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr knew that GM engineer Edward Ivey was committing perjury when Starr defended GM's C/K truck side-saddle fuel tanks.
Posted 3/16/98
Posted 3/9/98
Posted 3/6/98
Posted 3/4/98
Attorney
Kendall Few releases affidavit GM Statement Regarding Allegations The Associated Press, The Wire, "Starr May Be Probed in GM Case"
Posted 2/17/98
Posted 2/14/98
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