Chamber newspaper makes some news, with a subpoena

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's newest legal newspaper, the Southeast Texas Record, got off to a rather auspicious start: with a subpoena. The Chamber secretly started the chain of newspapers a few years back in Madison County, Illinois, to help bolster its assault on the civil justice system. The ownership was eventually revealed, but the papers have continued to thrive, with the latest entry in Beaumont arriving this month.

The new paper has already made news after its editor and a reporter had a run-in with local plaintiffs' attorney Brent Coon, who just happens to think the Chamber is the root of all evil and who happened to be in the local courthouse picking a jury for an asbestos trial when the Record employees were allegedly giving potential jurors copies of the paper. Given that the paper was full of stories bashing trial lawyers and alleging fraud in mass tort cases, Coon went to the judge and accused the pair of jury tampering. Depositions are scheduled for Thursday...