Ellen Corbett, former chairwoman of the California Assembly Judiciary Committee, has gone to work for one of her main allies in the fight against tort reform, San Francisco's Sturdevant Law Firm.
Firm founder James Sturdevant was president of Consumer Attorneys of California in 2004, Corbett's last year in the Assembly. Under Corbett, the Judiciary Committee was ground zero for several battles between business interests and the plaintiff bar, including the fight over changing California's unfair competition law....
Corbett, a Democrat who represented the San Leandro area, was termed out when the last legislative session ended in September, but is currently raising money to run for state Senate in 2006....
John Sullivan, president of the pro-tort reform Civil Justice Association of California and a frequent critic of the close relationship between the plaintiff bar and Democrats, laughed when he heard Corbett was going to work with Sturdevant, calling it "par for the course."...
Corbett, who did not return a phone call seeking comment Friday, has never made excuses about her relationship with the plaintiff bar, saying what they do jibes with her political philosophy.
