October
2002
Vol. 38, No. 10
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News
& trends
Lawyer
discovers evidence at Internet auctions
Going once, going
twice . . . . Plaintiff lawyer Mark Lanier, a self-confessed
"eBay-aholic," surfs the auction site for more than knick-knacks.
Items he purchased on the site, he said, have helped him succeed in
asbestos and other toxic tort cases.
Lanier
uses the site to obtain historical information that shows a manufacturer's
knowledge about a harmful substance at the time a plaintiff was exposed.
For example, he represented a plaintiff in a case against Exxon for
harm caused by benzene leaking from underground storage tanks. The
company claimed that in the 1940s, when the chemical was leaking,
it didn't realize that benzene was harmful. Lanier used literature
he bought on eBay, including a set of encyclopedias from 1939, to
show otherwise.
Historical
information is valuable in asbestos cases because victims of exposure
may not manifest symptoms for decades, Lanier said. He has used eBay
not only to buy documents showing that asbestos manufacturers knew
their product was harmful, but also to buy physical evidence: unopened
cans of asbestos-containing joint compound manufactured in the 1960s
and 1970s and a "fireproof" shirt made with asbestos fibers. Lanier
took the items to a testing laboratory and used its analysis of the
amount of asbestos contained in the items to show the jury how his
client could have been exposed.
"Some
of the best evidence I get, I get through means other than discovery,"
said Lanier. "In discovery, you only get what the bad guys want you
to."
Users
can search eBay by keyword or category, such as "collectibles," "books,"
and "antiques and art." Most items lawyers would seek are not organized
by category on eBay, Lanier said, so keyword searches are more useful.
A search for "asbestos" usually generates 250 to 300 responses, he
said.
A
quick search for "mercury + fillings" turned up an "unopened 16-ounce
bottle of Spectropure, dental pure mercury manufactured by Baker &
Inglehart Industries," available for $20.50. Searching for "formaldehyde"
led to a "vintage 1943 20-gram glass ampule used to treat mercury
poisoning."
The
possibilities for using the Internet for evidence are "limitless,"
said Lanier, especially because more and more lawyers are becoming
Internet-savvy.
But
do be careful how you ship that mercury.
—Janet
L. Holt
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