home / The Mother Jones 400 / Wayne Reaud (with Dana) profile
| RANK | | IN
1998 | | DONOR NAME | | INDUSTRY | | TOTAL
CONTRIBUTIONS | | PARTY | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 116 | | 151 | | Wayne Reaud (with Dana)
Partner, Reaud, Morgan & Quinn, Beaumont, TX | | Lawyers & Lobbyists | | $308,000 | | 
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 | Wayne Reaud (with Dana)
March 5, 2001 Like most members of the Mother Jones 400, Wayne Reaud has made a fortune in the corporate world. But the Texas trial lawyer acquired his millions by suing large companies, not running them. Reaud represented clients injured by asbestos in the 1970s and 1980s, and went on to become one the "Tobacco Five" -- the group of lawyers who shared a record $3.3 billion fee from Texas's settlement with Big Tobacco in 1998. The following year, Reaud forced a $2.1 billion settlement with Toshiba for allegedly marketing laptop computers with faulty disk drives. Besides Reaud's large donations to Democrats -- a total of $308,000 -- he also contributed to two political action committees operated and funded by trial lawyers that suport candidates for state office. State records show that the "Tobacco Five" gave almost $2 million to the Texas 2000 PAC and the Constitutional Defense Fund during the first six months of last year. Reaud alone reportedly donated $300,000. -- Suzanne Boothby | | | | | |
