Frontline: Bigger than Enron

From reading the interview with Lynn Turner I have learned that she was a SEC cheif accountant from 1998 to 2001. When the 1995 tort-reform act was being debated she said the coutrny was in a unhealthy situation. Lawsuits were being litigated that did not have a real basis. She thinks that they made it too hard for investors to turn around and purse their claims in court. Turner also thinks, "the average investor is going to think that it's right that people can stand by -- especially the professionals, the experts in these cases -- can stand by and watch things happen, thereby aiding and abetting those things occuring, and think that they should go without punishment." She thinks that too. When asked if she thought the 1995 tort-reform law affected the behavior of accountants, of corporate boards, of corporate officers, of law firms, of investments banks in any way, she replied that no one likes to be sued. She also said that on the top of their minds there is without a doubt less litigation exposure.