Stanley Chesley settled just one case too many.
For decades the Cincinnati plaintiffs lawyer negotiated lucrative ends to big class actions: a $200 million settlement in 1985 for Vietnam War veterans injured by Agent Orange; a $3.4 billion settlement in 1994 for breast implant plaintiffs; the $246 billion tobacco settlement in 1998, where he was one of the lawyers who represented state governments. At the age of 75, he still maintained an active practice: Up until last June, he was plaintiffs counsel for the massive consumer fraud class action filed against Fannie Mae by two Ohio pension funds.
