EDITORIAL

We don’t pretend to imagine what sort of grief the parents of Brandon

Wiener are going through.

Their 3-year-old son was heartlessly and viciously taken from them in a

savage act in which the perpetrator reportedly told authorities that he

targeted “innocent” children at a local day-care center for “execution.”

Despite the heartache they must feel, we must admit we were dismayed to

learn the Wieners have included the owners and operators of the preschool

within the lawsuit they filed against the purported killer, Steven Allen

Abrams.

We haven’t the stomach to take a grieving parent to task, so on that

matter we’ll remain silent.

But what we do find troubling -- what we can’t be silent about -- is the

implication by attorneys who file such litigation that their clients had

no other choice.

Attorneys love to throw around words like “necessary” and “forced” when

referring to the reasons their clients have taken legal action.

They used the same words in 1997 when they helped foist a shameful number

of lawsuits on this community, which was sharing in the grief over the

car crash tragedy on Irvine Avenue that killed one teen, put one in a

coma and injured several more.

In fact, Jim DiCesare, one of the attorneys who was involved in the

flurry of lawsuits filed after the Irvine Avenue crash, had this to say:

“The law requires plaintiffs to file a suit even if it is against a party

that bears a small responsibility. Many people are forced to file because

of the law. It’s done in order to protect the client.”

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Lawsuits, unlike the criminal case being prepared against Abrams, are not

“necessary.” They are usually filed for one motive -- monetary gain.

Despite what DiCesare says -- and we’ve checked with legal experts --

there is no law that “requires” citizens to file a lawsuit.

That is simply a lawyer’s ploy to make sure his or her bases are covered.

But rather than fret over covering all the bases, the legal advisors

might do well in considering the public relations fallout.

Legal strategy is one thing. Slapping the friends and the community who

stepped up to help your client is another.

Why add to the hurt?