AS LAWYER LEAVES CASE, ETHICAL QUESTIONS ARISE
	Attorney Says Chrysler's Tactics Forced Him to Quit
			by Benjamin Weiser
			Washington Post Staff Writer--June 13, 1996

	NEW YORK, June 12--A plaintiff's lawyer has abruptly dropped out 
of a lawsuit against Chrysler Corp. in Texas, saying the automaker 
demanded he leave or it would make it more difficult for him to settle 
other pending suits he had against the company.
	The allegation, which surfaced in a suit claiming a woman was 
injured by exposure to chemicals released when her air bag deployed in a 
collision, has turned a routine auto case into a bitter sideshow about legal
ethics, hardball defense tactics and a lawyer's obligations.
	Chrysler officials denied Dallas attorney E.Todd Tracy's 
assertion that it asked him to withdraw from the air bag suit in order to 
improve his chances of settlement in other suits against the company.
	But the federal judge hearing the case said he was concerned 
about the "propriety of the conduct of Chrysler and its attorneys," and 
hoped it would be reviewed by the Texas State Bar.
	The judge also cited as evidence of Tracy's motives in leaving 
the case a bluntly written letter from Tracy to his partner in the case.
	"Upon further discussions with Chrysler, they simply have me by 
the testicles," Tracy wrote.  "I cannot bit the hand that feeds me so 
well, especially since I have so many good Chrysler cases that are being 
held up.
	"This may be cowardly on my part," Tracy added, "but with my new 
practice, tort reform looming and the uncertainties of the future, I have 
no choice.  This is a purely business/economic decision."
	U.S. District Court Judge Paul Brown, who was hearing the lawsuit 
in Sherman, Tex., wrote in his opinion May 23 that Tracy and his 
co-counsel each claimed that Chrysler had conveyed to Tracy that "he was 
a rising star in automobile design litigation and that if he wished to 
continue in his success at getting favorable treatment for his clients 
from Chrysler, he should withdraw" from the air bag case.
	Such a demand would post an untenable conflict for a lawyer 
between his interests and the client's.  Because of this, the judge said, 
Tracy properly withdrew from the case.  But the judge questioned how 
forthcoming Tracy was in testimony at a special court hearing on why he 
was withdrawing.
	Tracy said his client's case seemed less meritorious than he 
originally believed, the judge wrote, but the judge said Tracy's decision 
was based on his own financial interests.
	"It certainly appears from his testimony that Tracy has forgotten 
who his clients are," Brown wrote.
	"Tracy's loyalty to his own clients' needs appears secondary to 
his desire to maintain a positive relationship with Chrysler so as to 
ensure his own financial success."
	Brown ordered Tracy to pay a $2,500 fine to the court, attent 10 
hours of courses in legal ethics and referred him to the Texas State Bar 
for further proceedings.
	The judge noted that Chrysler's conduct was not formally bfore 
him, but said, "The tactics employed by Chrysler in this case were, to 
say the least, highly unusual."
	Chrysler had siad in earlier court papers that the suggestion 
that Tracy would benefit if he withdrew "is untrue and offensive."
	On June 4, Tracy appealed the judge's order and sanctions with 
the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.  In a phone interview, Tracy defended 
his conduct, and said Chrysler's demand had left him with no choice about 
what to do in the case.  Had he not withdrawn, he would have jeopardized 
the intersests of his clients in nine other cases against Chrysler, he said.
	According to the judge's opinion, Tracy claimed Chrysler 
threatened to make him try each case, rather than offer him an early 
resolution in settlement.
	"I was placed in the most egregious legal and ethical dilemma I 
have ever seen in my practice," Tracy said.
	It's unclear why Tracy believed Chrysler wanted him out of the 
suit, in which Chrysler denied any liability.  Tracy would not provided 
his opinion on the matter, saying that would violate lawyer-client 
confidences.
	As to the colorful language in his letter explaining his 
withdrawal to his colleague in the case, Tracy said, "That's just the way 
I talk.  I cuss a bunch too."