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From Ohio Super Lawyers, January 2007
By Susan Wenner Jackson
Stanley M. Chesley has been called a lot of things in his life: "Prince of Torts" for being a pioneer of class action lawsuits and mass torts—including the 2002 federal tobacco settlement in which tobacco companies agreed to pay smokers more than $360 billion. "Master of Disaster" and "Champion for the Little Guy" for representing thousands of victims of fires, plane crashes, environmental spills and defective products. Meanwhile, his critics have called him everything from "ruthless" to "opportunist"—and worse.
But "pussycat"?
That's how Chesley's wife, Susan Dlott, describes her husband. Dlott, who is a federal judge, says her husband is "very thoughtful and considerate. He never raises his voice at home. He won't argue about anything."
Chesley is "totally devoted" to his six grandchildren, she says, and tries to talk to them daily. Whether attending soccer games or horse-riding events, "he really tries to spend time with them." He's also rather partial to the couple's two Cavalier King Charles spaniels, which were originally "her" dogs.
"But he's become a dog person, and now he doesn't leave the house without giving them a treat," she says. "He takes them out at 3 a.m. if they want to go out."
It's a little hard to imagine this man—who owns one of the most successful law firms in Cincinnati, who lives in an $8 million home, and who considers former president Bill Clinton an acquaintance—going outside in his pajamas in the middle of the night to take the dogs out.
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Born to Russian Jewish immigrant parents in 1936, Chesley started his life in a humble apartment in a working-class Cincinnati neighborhood. He sold shoes at Shillito's department store during the 1950s, and graduated from the University of Cincinnati law school "somewhere in the middle" of his class. The 70-year-old attorney has spent a lifetime building himself up into a complex, respected and, sometimes, feared personality—both in and out of the courtroom.
Though he started practicing law in 1960, it wasn't until 1977 that Chesley began making his mark in the world as the originator of the mass tort. That year, the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Ky., burned down on May 28, killing 165 and injuring 116. Chesley represented the victims and their families, eventually negotiating $49 million in settlements. "The Beverly Hills Supper Club case launched my career," he says.
Chesley's strategy for the case bucked the status quo of personal injury litigation at the time. Back then, the plaintiff with the most aggressive attorney would exhaust limited settlement funds. Chesley, instead, gathered strength in numbers, representing not one, but a large group of plaintiffs. He also set his sights higher than the club's $1.7 million insurance liability. Chesley went after everyone who could be held liable, from the club owners to the utility company to product manufacturers. The pleadings listed 1,200 defendants, including 900 insurance companies.
"I borrowed money to come up with my theories," he says. For example, his discovery that the foam inside the club's chairs contained cyanide helped lead to the $49 million settlement. More important, Chesley adds, "We changed the entire issue of fire safety."
To this day, he keeps a piece of that foam in a manila envelope in his desk drawer. He pulls it out and sets a tiny chunk of it on fire to demonstrate his point. "Imagine that times 100 full-size chairs," he says as the piece burns for several seconds, the cyanide filling his office with an acrid smell.
Chesley followed his success on the Beverly Hills Supper Club case with a series of high-profile class action suits that led to landmark settlements, including the following:
- $200 million settlement with Dow Chemical in 1983 for Vietnam War veterans. The vets claimed that the chemical defoliant Agent Orange, used by the U.S. military during the war, caused cancer.
- $120 million settlement with Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals in 1984 for hundreds of people who said their birth defects were caused by Bendectin, an anti-nausea drug taken by pregnant women.
- $165 million settlement with Pfizer Inc. in 1992 for recipients of the Bjork-Shiley artificial heart valve. Users claimed the defective heart valves caused 300-plus deaths.
- $100 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Energy and its private contractor in 1994 for workers and nearby residents of the Fernald Nuclear Weapons Plant. The plaintiffs claimed their exposure to radioactive materials caused health problems.
- $3.2 billion settlement with Dow Corning in 1998 for women with silicone breast implants. The women claimed that leakage from the implants caused health problems.
- $2.7 billion settlement with the Libyan government in 2003 for families of victims killed in the Pan Am Flight 103 crash over Lockerbie, Scotland. Libya admitted its role in the terrorist bombing of the jetliner.
- $5 billion settlement with German corporations, Swiss and Austrian banks for the World Jewish Restitution Organization, which he represented pro bono.
In recent years, the firm's focus has shifted from mass torts to antitrust and securities litigation. In 2003, for instance, Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro hired Chesley as lead counsel in a suit against mortgage lending giant Freddie Mac and three ousted executives, accusing them of securities fraud. Three years later, Chesley negotiated a $410 million settlement agreement on behalf of the Ohio Public Employee Retirement System and Ohio's State Teachers Retirement System.
How has he achieved such results? According to Kenneth Feinberg—who first met Chesley while serving as the court-appointed special master/mediator in the Agent Orange negotiations—it's because "Stan is a superb lawyer." As one of the nation's leading experts in mediation and alternative dispute resolution, Feinberg was appointed by the attorney general of the United States to serve as the Special Master of the federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001.
"[Chesley] is a world-class negotiator with the ability to "close," i.e., negotiate right up to the deadline and then secure a very favorable settlement for his clients," Feinberg says. "He is probably the foremost plaintiff lawyer in the country when it comes to the use of the class action. He is very flexible, cooperative and creative. He gets things done."
Another contributing factor to Chesley's success is his ability to assemble a winning legal team, says Arthur Miller, professor at Harvard Law School, critically acclaimed legal writer and commentator, and Chesley's longtime friend.
"He's a great organizer—he can put teams together. You've got to be able to know what kinds of talents you need," Miller says. "Stan also has a sense of strategy, of what you can ask the court for without getting punched in the nose.
"The risks of litigation are staggering. The courts are leaning conservatively, against the types of plaintiffs Stan represents. You've got to have a real sense of what's doable, and what's settle-able."
Chesley's negotiating style strikes a stark contrast to that of many plaintiffs' lawyers, who tend to "pound the table, shout, and drag you kicking and screaming to a position," says Meyer Koplow, who represented Philip Morris in the federal tobacco settlements. Koplow says Chesley presents a more practical—and unusual—approach: "We can either get something done, or not. Let's figure out what makes sense, what works, and find a position that both sides can live with."
Chesley also draws from an incomparable network of contacts to help him get things done in the negotiating room, Koplow says. "He's just able to call on a lot of people for information, for assistance, for advice. It was not unusual for Stan to answer his cell phone [with] "Hello, Senator."" Even the White House, which monitored the tobacco deals as they proceeded, was "particularly interested in what Stan thought about things," he adds. Koplow attributes the relatively swift resolution of the landmark tobacco deal in large part to Chesley.
Clients also note Chesley's strength in working the room at trial. "He was masterful in getting our story out through [the defendant's] witness. And because of his stature, he is able to do things that others might not try," says Charles Kamine, mayor of Amberley Village, which Chesley is representing pro bono in a battle over development of a former golf course. Kamine also noticed that when Chesley left the courtroom during trial, opposing counsel suddenly got much bolder with their objections. "We were wondering whether Chesley's presence kept [opposing counsel] in check." Kamine adds that, as a practicing lawyer himself, he's getting "continuing legal education" by watching Chesley in action.
"He's not involved in the nitty-gritty details of litigation. Now he's a much bigger thinker—planning the global strategy," Kamine says. "I think he understands the big picture. That's ultimately more important. He's a good guy and has done well by us."
Chesley gives his own assessment of what makes him—or anyone—a good lawyer: "One, bright. Two, entrepreneurial—providing value for clients. And three, playing well in the sandbox." He adds this last point after taking a call from the attorney representing Comair. Chesley's firm is representing families of two of 49 victims from an August 2006 Comair plane crash. "When I make a settlement, I make a partnership."
Those who know Chesley well remark that for all the financial rewards he's enjoyed, money isn't the sole driver in his career.
"Everybody likes to earn a buck," says Harvard Law School's Miller. "Everybody likes to be the top banana. But beyond that, [Chesley] has a deep sense that justice is unequally distributed in America. So part of his motivation is social justice."
Louise Roselle, one of 21 lawyers at WSB&C, applauds Chesley's commitment to Fernald and other nuclear-waste-related cases. "He has put tremendous effort into these radiation cases," she says. "Most people would never go near them. There are issues of national security, the war, but he took the time and money to take on these cases. I think that's probably one of his biggest contributions."
His son, Richard Chesley, notes his father's passion for the legal profession as one of the reasons he pursued his own law career.
"It may sound trite, but he loved the law; it was his passion," says the younger Chesley, who is now a partner at Jones Day in Chicago. "[Growing up,] I watched him argue in court and worked in his office during summers. I really developed an appreciation of what it took to be a skilled practitioner: patience, compassion and passion.
"He really showed me, as he has a lot of lawyers, that it doesn't matter where you come from or what the diploma on your wall says. What speaks the loudest is your dedication to your clients and the profession."
Stan Chesley hopes to continue serving his clients and the profession as long as he's able. "I think I'm a better lawyer now than I was 10 years ago. And I love what I do."
This article first appeared in the January 2007 issues of Ohio Super Lawyers and related special sections in Cincinnati Magazine and Northern Ohio Live Magazine. It appears on this website with permission of the writer.
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