William James once said, “In any project the important factor is your belief. Without belief there can be no successful outcome.” Dr. Jack Kevorkian believes... and believes... and believes in every terminal patient’s right to physician-assisted suicide. He famously said that “dying is not a crime.” Passion and purpose go hand in hand. When you discover your purpose, you will normally find it’s something you’re tremendously passionate about. And that is the simple reason why Geoffrey Fieger became the lawyer for “Dr. Death,” Dr Jack Kevorkian. Both Jack and Geoff forced us to pay attention to one of the biggest elephants in society’s living room: the fact that today vast numbers of people are alive who would rather be dead, people who have lives not worth living.

On the November 22, 1998, broadcast of 60 Minutes, Jack aired a videotape he had made on September 17, 1998, which showed the voluntary euthanasia of Thomas Youk, 52, an adult male of sound mind, who was in the final stages of ALS. After Youk provided his fully-informed consent on September 17, 1998, Jack himself administered a lethal injection to Youk. During the videotape, Jack dared the authorities to try to convict him or stop him from carrying out assisted suicides. This incited the prosecuting attorney to bring murder charges against Jack, claiming he had single-handedly caused the death of Youk. On March 26, 1999, Jack was charged with first-degree homicide and the delivery of a controlled substance. Jack was found guilty of second-degree homicide and the judge sentenced him to a 10-25 year prison sentence. Kevorkian was denied parole repeatedly. Terminally ill with Hepatitis C, which he contracted while doing research on blood transfusions in Vietnam, Jack was expected to die within a year in May 2006. He was paroled on June 1, 2007. He spent 8 years and 2 1/2 months behind bars rather than the predicted 10–25 years. Jack said he would abstain from assisting any more terminal patients with death, and his role in the matter would strictly be to persuade states to change their laws on assisted suicide. He is also forbidden by the rules of his parole from commenting about assisted suicide. Today, The Insider Exclusive will go “Behind the Headlines” as we visit with Dr. Jack Kevorkian’s lawyes, including his former trial lawyer, Geoffrey Fieger, and his current lawyer, Mayer Morganroth, as well as journalist Jack Lessonberry, who has written extensively about Jack.

Mayer Morganroth is a high distinguished attorney who represented, among others, former Detroit Michigan mayor Coleman Young, and John DeLorean. In one of the most important "David-versus-Goliath" legal battles of recent years, it was Mayer Morganroth whose consummate legal skills won a $19 million dollar judgment for Murray Hill Publications against media giant 20th Century Fox in 2001. The best proof of the talent and skill of an attorney is that he is selected by another high-profile lawyer who is looking for legal help. Such was the case when Geoffrey Feiger, himself a nationally renowned attorney (with whom Mayer has worked in defense of Jack Kevorkian), asked Mayer to represent him in a recent case. But even in the sometimes electric atmosphere of a courtroom, Mayer is ingenious in displaying another of his many skills: the ability to assess a situation and handle it with just the right amount of seriousness-- or, if need be, just the right amount of levity.

http://www.insiderexclusive.com/component/content/article/1-shows/114-right-to-die-dr-jack-kevorkian-fieger-fieger-kenney-johnson-a-giroux

Alaska Airlines & The FAA Whistleblower

Alaska Airlines Flight 261, a MD-83 aircraft, experienced a fatal accident on January 31, 2000, in the Pacific Ocean, about 2.7 miles north of Anacapa Island, California. Two hours into the flight, the pilots realized that the horizontal stabilizer was jammed. The two pilots, three cabin crewmembers, and 83 passengers on board were killed—the highest death toll of any aviation accident involving a MD-83 ever, and the aircraft was destroyed. This accident and other unsafe airline situations could have been easily avoided, if the FAA and Alaska Airlines had listened to Mary Diefenderfer, a former FAA Principal Operations Inspector, who from 1993 to 1997 oversaw the team of inspectors who regulated Alaska Airlines' operations/functions. In August 1993, Mary discovered that the Vice President of Flight Operations at Alaska Airlines had falsified his own pilot training records. Despite the accuracy of her reports, soon after her team exposed the violation by Alaska Airlines, FAA management reassigned her to another office and removed her from oversight of Alaska Airlines operations. The agency denied her grievances, revoked her pilot's license, revoked the Leave Without Pay that she had requested due to severe emotional distress, declared her AWOL, and issued a proposed suspension – all in the space of several weeks. These actions forced her involuntary resignation in November 1999. Today, The Insider Exclusive will go “Behind The Headlines” and meet former airline pilot and FAA Safety Inspector Mary Rose Diefenderfer and her lawyers, Judith Lonnquist and Mary Dryovage, to relate Mary's personal battle with the FAA, her pending lawsuit and how FAA managers actively retaliated against inspectors who tried to make a difference and save lives.

Judith Lonnquist specializes in plaintiffs' employment and civil rights law, with an occasional foray into traditional labor law and campaign finance law. She is a founder of the Northwest Women's Law Center and served as National Legal Vice President to the National Organization for Women, and as a member of Washington State's Gender & Justice Taskforce. Judith is a member of various Bar and legal associations and She served as President of the Washington Employment Lawyers Association, on the WSTLA Board of Governors and on the Executive Committee for the WSBA Litigation Section. She is a graduate of the Trial Lawyers College founded by Gerry Spence. She is a frequent speaker on plaintiff's employment law and trial and appellate procedure and strategies, and is listed in America's Best Lawyers, Seattle's Best Lawyers, and as a “Super Lawyer” by Washington Law and Politics. Judith is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and the University of Chicago Law School.

http://www.insiderexclusive.com/component/content/article/1-shows/111-air-crash-alaska-airlines-a-the-faa-whistleblower-

On a cold freezing night in Milwaukee, December 10, 2003, Curtis Harris was arrested in his home on a routine “disorderly conduct” charge, handcuffed and then punched in the face and shoved in the mud by former Milwaukee Police Officer Kevin Clark. Dragged to the Milwaukee Police Jail, Curtis walked into the Milwaukee booking room, where his life changed forever when Clark deliberately and maliciously used excessive force, throwing Curtis headfirst into a concrete wall for no reason whatsoever, rendering him a quadriplegic for the rest of his life. The Insider Exclusive will show how the actual Milwaukee Police surveillance camera video, in the booking room, completely contradicted the lies of Clark and his fellow officers; how Clark and his fellow officers taunted, ridiculed and laughed at Curtis as he lay paralyzed on the cold cement jailhouse floor and drifted in and out of consciousness; how the wheels of justice turn in police brutality cases like Curtis’s; how Jason Alexander and Todd Korb of the law firm of Hupy & Abraham, S.C. got some justice for Curtis; and how all Americans are protected against police brutality by the nation’s civil rights laws.

Jason Abraham began his career with Hupy and Abraham, S.C., in 1993 and progressed to the position of shareholder at the firm in 1999. He received his undergraduate degree in psychology in 1989 from the University of Wisconsin, followed by his juris doctor from Marquette University Law School in 1992. He is admitted to practice in the State of Wisconsin, along with the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin. He is also licensed to practice in Missouri. He is a Certified Civil Trial Specialists by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, member of the State Bar of Wisconsin, American Bar Association, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. As a result of his expertise regarding personal injury matters, along with a significant record of achievement in that venue, Jason has lectured in numerous states regarding personal injury issues. His proficiency in that area has created a clientele consisting of individuals from across the nation. Jason has settled or tried over 110 million dollars in personal injury cases and has had multiple cases resolved for over a million dollars.

Todd Korb has been practicing law since he graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1996. He also attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison for his undergraduate studies where he graduated with honors while earning a varsity letter for rowing. Todd is a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Bar Association. He is licensed to practice in all Wisconsin courts including both United States District Courts in Wisconsin as well as the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. He has successfully handled thousands of personal injury cases including auto accidents, dog bites, and product liability cases. Todd has obtained millions in recoveries for his clients in his over 12 years of practice. He has lectured numerous times on legal and insurance coverage issues in Wisconsin. He currently is involved in his community by being a member of his town's government and volunteering and coaching at his children's school.

Huppy & Abraham, S.C. seeks to give their clients the best possible representation from the beginning of their case to its conclusion. The firm goes above and beyond the call of duty, pledging to keep clients informed and to give each client personal attention. Huppy & Abraham’s mission is to do well by doing back, and to give back to the community. To promote and sponsor scholarship, educational and safety programs.

http://www.insiderexclusive.com/component/content/article/1-shows/110-police-brutality-cases-harris-v-city-of-milwaukee

Chrysler Death - Featuring: George W. Fryhofer III and Leigh Martin May

On November 11, 2004, a Nashville, Tennessee, jury returned a verdict of $105.5 million against the DaimlerChrysler Corporation, finding the seatbacks in Chrysler minivans were unsafe, defective and unreasonably dangerous. The case involved injuries to and the death of an 8-month-old child, Joshua Flax, in the rear-end collision which occurred in Davidson County, Tennessee, on June 30, 2001. Joshua was fatally injured when his grandfather’s 1998 Dodge Caravan minivan was hit in the rear. The front passenger’s seatback collapsed backward, and the passenger’s head hit Joshua’s forehead, fracturing his skull. Joshua died the next day. The Insider Exclusive will show how George W. Fryhofer III and Leigh Martin May of the law firm of Butler, Wooten & Fryhofer won this historic $105 million verdict by proving that:

1. Chrysler had known for over 20 years that these seats were deadly and never warned anybody. Instead, they continue to claim there’s nothing wrong and try to mislead the press, public and juries.

2. Chrysler had been marketing minivans as “safe family vehicles” despite evidence to the contrary from their own engineers and executives.

3. In 1992, when Chrysler appointed a “Minivan Safety Leadership Team” to investigate safety problems with its minivans, the team concluded that the seatback problem needed to be fixed immediately.

4. Chrysler then ordered Paul Sheridan, the safety leadership team’s chairman, to destroy the team’s meeting minutes and later fired Sheridan. Chrysler sued Sheridan for $82 million in an attempt to muzzle him. Chrysler collected zero from Sheridan.

5. To date, 7 million Dodge, Plymouth and Chrysler minivans are still riding America’s highways with these defective seats. Chrysler still refuses to recall or warn of this danger.ollapsed last year when he couldn't make payments to investors.

http://www.insiderexclusive.com/show-titles/104-chrysler-deaths-flax-v-daimlerchrysler-butler-wooten-a-fryhofer-