Cape May Court House : A Death in the Night

Rating:
Summary: Cape May Court House
Review: ...This is an UNSOLVED mystery. Of course there is no clear cut end. It is not a fairy tale. This actually happened...and no criminal charges have been filed. Lawrence Schiller's books are not for simple minds. He gives all the facts and legal surroundings and leaves it up to an educated reader to crack the case. Was it an airbag or murder?? I found the entire investigation fascinating. I can't even imagine being Ford's attorney and uncovering what Conroy did based on the experts Ford hired. I commend such fine lawyering and hats off to Schiller for having the guts to print such a controversial book.

Rating:
Summary: Bully for Ford!
Review: A Ford Explorer rolls off a street and hits a telephone pole. The airbag inflates on impact, killing the driver and her six-month old fetus. The woman's husband, and passenger in the vehicle during the accident, sues Ford Motor Company in a simple product liability case. Right?

Throughout their investigation, Ford's lawyers uncover something far from simple. They uncover a web of deceit spun by the plaintiff revolving around his statements regarding the accident, injuries he may have received from the accident, the state of his relationship with his wife at the time of the accident, and the amount of life insurance he received from his wife's death. Ford's lawyers come to the conclusion that the plaintiff may have been the cause of his wife's death, not the airbag.

This is essentially the true-life story of Lawrence Schiller's "Cape May Court House: A Death in the Night". Having grown up in the area that the events occurred (I went Middle Township HS in Cape May Court House), I had a particular interest in it. When the parties involved mention the area as small town, they are not exaggerating. For Ford to use the defense that their product wasn't responsible for Tracy Thomas's (the woman in question) death because her husband (Dr Eric Thomas) was responsible was as extremely risky one indeed. It was not only risky for Dr Thomas but for Ford also because corporations already have an undeserved reputation for attacking litigants.

There are no firm conclusions drawn from Schiller's work. It should be noted beforehand that the overwhelming bulk of the book is dedicated to Ford's efforts to uncover their truth and Dr Thomas's side is only presented in so far as it was presented in court. The book is decidely unfavorable to Dr Thomas continuosly describing him as unemotional and stony-faced as he sits through depositions regarding his wife's death.

Schiller also unintentionally presents a picture of a very broken legal system. This case never made it to trial yet spent two and a half years winding through and clogging up the court system. Not to mention that the presiding judge kept pushing for a settlement between the parties. I hope I'm not the only who finds it troubling that a judge would do such a thing just to get the case off the docket. Quick settlements is one of the reasons that our court system is overwhelmed by frivolous lawsuits in the first place. Encouraging quicker settlements would only encourage more garbage lawsuits.

In the end, I was satisfied that Ford pursued such a hard line. Defenses like this, when merited, should be vigorously pursued by defendants. Product liability lawsuits harm all Americans by increasing the costs of insurance and reducing corporate profits from litigation expenses. I think most Americans would be shocked to find out exactly how much of the cost of the car they are purchasing is related to the legal costs that auto manufacturers incur just because someone has, what the average person would consider to be, an accident.

Rating:
Summary: Bully for Ford!
Review: A Ford Explorer rolls off a street and hits a telephone pole. The airbag inflates on impact, killing the driver and her six-month old fetus. The woman's husband, and passenger in the vehicle during the accident, sues Ford Motor Company in a simple product liability case. Right?

Throughout their investigation, Ford's lawyers uncover something far from simple. They uncover a web of deceit spun by the plaintiff revolving around his statements regarding the accident, injuries he may have received from the accident, the state of his relationship with his wife at the time of the accident, and the amount of life insurance he received from his wife's death. Ford's lawyers come to the conclusion that the plaintiff may have been the cause of his wife's death, not the airbag.

This is essentially the true-life story of Lawrence Schiller's "Cape May Court House: A Death in the Night". Having grown up in the area that the events occurred (I went Middle Township HS in Cape May Court House), I had a particular interest in it. When the parties involved mention the area as small town, they are not exaggerating. For Ford to use the defense that their product wasn't responsible for Tracy Thomas's (the woman in question) death because her husband (Dr Eric Thomas) was responsible was as extremely risky one indeed. It was not only risky for Dr Thomas but for Ford also because corporations already have an undeserved reputation for attacking litigants.

There are no firm conclusions drawn from Schiller's work. It should be noted beforehand that the overwhelming bulk of the book is dedicated to Ford's efforts to uncover their truth and Dr Thomas's side is only presented in so far as it was presented in court. The book is decidely unfavorable to Dr Thomas continuosly describing him as unemotional and stony-faced as he sits through depositions regarding his wife's death.

Schiller also unintentionally presents a picture of a very broken legal system. This case never made it to trial yet spent two and a half years winding through and clogging up the court system. Not to mention that the presiding judge kept pushing for a settlement between the parties. I hope I'm not the only who finds it troubling that a judge would do such a thing just to get the case off the docket. Quick settlements is one of the reasons that our court system is overwhelmed by frivolous lawsuits in the first place. Encouraging quicker settlements would only encourage more garbage lawsuits.

In the end, I was satisfied that Ford pursued such a hard line. Defenses like this, when merited, should be vigorously pursued by defendants. Product liability lawsuits harm all Americans by increasing the costs of insurance and reducing corporate profits from litigation expenses. I think most Americans would be shocked to find out exactly how much of the cost of the car they are purchasing is related to the legal costs that auto manufacturers incur just because someone has, what the average person would consider to be, an accident.

Rating:
Summary: David vs. Goliath
Review: A simple product liability death claim originated by a small town dentist over his wife's death, apparently from a faulty air bag, expands more fully than the aformentioned air bag ever could. What appears to be a case of an individual taking on a giant corporation, soon mushrooms into a defense by the corporation, alleging a sinister hidden agenda by the plaintiff. At first the reader is appalled by the allegations, but as the lawyers' investigation unfolds, an inescapable conclusion begins to form.
The author is obviously a skilled journalist with a writing style that can transform the court documents and newspaper articles into a highly readable, concise and chronological report on the case. While this book is complete as far as the court documents and reports availble to the author, it lacks independant investigation over and above the documented facts. Likewise, this book would have been a five star effort, had the author included photographs and diagrams of accident scene along with photographs of the vehicle (or an identical model), the parties involved and the airbag in the vehicle in question.
Nonetheless, this is a fascinating case and a well written book which is a must read for all true crime buffs.
Sometimes Goliath is not wrong and David doesn't always win.

Rating:
Summary: A lot of hype
Review: I actually go to this dentist and was totally clueless about the whole case since I moved into the area not too long ago. I am an avid reader of crime drama and was excited to read a book that hits very close to home.
This is one of the dryest books that I have ever read. The first chapter was pretty good, but then it's just blah blah blah. It took me almost 2 weeks to finish it, when I usually finish a book like this in a day or two.
I have read other books by this author, but this one just doesn't match up to his other works.

Rating:
Summary: Driest account of murder I've ever read
Review: I read a lot of true crime, but this was absolutely the driest account of murder that I've ever read. Throughout the tedious accounts of each lawyer's actions, motions filed, and depositons taken, we learn very little. The case does not reflect any emotion; we don't care about Eric Thomas (husband of the deceased) or about his wife. The characters are never personalized. We know more about the mass of attorneys involved than we do about the people involved in the case. I would rather have read the court transcripts than the excrutiatingly detailed legwork involved in this case.

Unless you're interested in reading about the legal research involved with building a case, Save yourself some time and just read the inside flap and find something more interesting to read.

Rating:
Summary: A thriller from Schiller
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed reading Cape May Courthouse. Truth is stranger than ficton! My heart goes out to the family of Tracy Thomas, Her daughter, parents and sister.Bill Conroy is the "John Wayne" type of hero lawyer who fights for what is right. We can only hope that Justice prevails.

Rating:
Summary: Cape May Courthouse
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I finished it in 4 days. The story at times seemed unbelievable as if it was fiction. I appreciated the detail of the narrative without it being too technical. I would definitely recommend this book to reading clubs so that you can debate whether it was an accident or murder.

Rating:
Summary: Rather Disappointing
Review: I was not overly impressed with the book. There were way too many newspaper clippings strung together. Also, the story was very very predictable, and Schiller did not do enough to create some intrigue or analysis. That said the book was a good summary of what happened. Schiller distilled a lot of complicated information. As long as the reader recognizes that this is a summary of what happened, and not much else, then it's an ok read.

Rating:
Summary: could it be more boring???
Review: If you enjoy reading dry court transcripts, you'll love this book. It is an interesting story but was written in a totally boring way. I am so sorry I paid for this book. I see it sells used for [$]. That's about [$] too much! I love true crime but this one stinks!