AIG Chief Calls Some Lawyers 'Terrorists'

By Tim McLaughlin

AIG Chairman Maurice "Hank" Greenberg's remarks came a day after U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige sparked an uproar when he called the nation's largest teachers' union a "terrorist organization" during a meeting with U.S. governors. The White House said he later apologized.

In remarks to business executives in Boston, Greenberg likened the battle over reforming class-action litigation to the White House's "war on terror." AIG insures corporations against multibillion-dollar claims of damages in asbestos lawsuits, for example.

"It's almost like fighting the war on terrorists," Greenberg told Boston College's Chief Executives' Club. "I call the plaintiff's bar terrorists."

That drew a swift rebuke from the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, which called Greenberg's remarks "an insult to the American people and the American Constitution."

"I think it's outrageous to try to use the specter of terrorism against the trial bar," ATLA President David Casey said.

The group, which counts 60,000 lawyers, represents on a pro bono basis more than 1,700 families who lost loved ones in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United State, Casey said.

"We're truly on the side of angels," Casey said.

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush has often used the word "terrorist" to describe various groups and individuals, but some critics say the term has been overused.

Paige's comment about the National Education Association, which represents 2.7 million teachers and other educators, sparked immediate criticism from Democrats and the union.

Paige made the remark while discussing the federal "No Child Left Behind" education law with governors at the White House, said Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin, who attended the meeting.

Greenberg used graphic language as he railed against an American tort system that sometimes awards staggering sums to people who claim injuries from corporate actions or products, for example. He accused plaintiff's lawyers of venue shopping in hope of winning big awards from receptive juries or judges.

"You know you're going to get raped...when you appear there," Greenberg said.

"Our legal tort system is out of control," he said, estimating class-action lawsuits shave 2 percent off the U.S. gross domestic product every year. "It's a blight on the country."