Perceptions of Procedural and Distributive Justice in the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund

The September l1th Victim Compensation Fund (the Fund) was created in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Much has been written about the Fund, both pro and con, in both popular media and scholarly literature. Perhaps the most widely used term in referring to the Fund is "unprecedented." The Fund is intriguing for many reasons, particularly for its public policy implications and its impact on the claimants themselves. The federal government has never before provided compensation to victims of terrorism through a special master who had virtually unlimited discretion in determining awards. Consequently, this formal allocation of money by a representative of the federal government to its citizens has provided an opportunity to test theories of procedural and distributive justice in a novel context. This article tests these theories by analyzing the results of a study of the Fund's claimants. Part I provides general background, summarizes existing commentary on the Fund, and discusses prior research on social justice that is relevant to the 9/11 claimants' experiences with the Fund. Part II of this article describes the methodology behind the study, in which seventy-one individuals who filed claims with the Fund completed surveys about their experiences with and perceptions of the Fund. Part III discusses the survey results. We found that participants were reasonably satisfied with the procedural aspects of the Fund, such as representatives' impartiality and respectful treatment. Participants were less satisfied, however, with the distributive aspects of the Fund, such as the unequal distribution of compensation and the reduction in compensation if claimants received compensation from other sources (e.g., life insurance). Part IV of this article addresses the implications of the study results for public policy and for theories of social justice.

Trauma and countertransference: development and validity of the Assessment of Countertransference Scale (ACS)

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to investigate the construct validity of the Assessment of Countertransference Scale (ACS) in the context of the trauma care, through the identification of the underlying latent constructs of the measured items and their homogeneity. Methods: ACS assesses 23 feelings of CT in three factors: closeness, rejection and indifference. ACS was applied to 50 residents in psychiatry after the first appointment with 131 victims of trauma consecutively selected during 4 years. ACS was analyzed by exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory (CFA) factor analysis, internal consistence and convergent-discriminant validity. Results: In spite of the fact that closeness items obtained the highest scores, the EFA showed that the factor rejection (24% of variance, alpha = 0.88) presented a more consistent intercorrelation of the items, followed by closeness (15% of variance, alpha = 0.82) and, a distinct factor, sadness (9% of variance, alpha = 0.72). Thus, a modified version was proposed. In the comparison between the original and the proposed version, CFA detected better goodness-of-fit indexes for the proposed version (GFI = 0.797, TLI = 0.867, CFI = 0.885 vs. GFI = 0.824, TLI = 0.904, CFI = 0.918). Conclusions: ACS is a promising instrument for assessing CT feelings, making it valid to access during the care of trauma victims.

Blood alcohol levels in suicide by hanging cases in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil

Suicide is one of the main causes of violent death worldwide, and has become a public health issue. Since alcohol consumption is associated with the increase in the number of suicides and hanging is one of the main methods used worldwide, the present study consists of an epidemiological analysis of BACs in victims of suicide by hanging autopsied in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The objective of the present work was to establish an epidemiological profile and evaluate blood alcohol concentrations in victims of suicide by hanging in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil, in the year of 2007. A cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted by collection of secondary data from autopsy reports of victims of hanging. According to the present study, positive results for alcohol were higher in male victims, but the mean BAC was higher in women. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.

Candida spp. isolated from inpatients, the environment, and health practitioners in the Pediatric Unit at the Universitary Hospital of the Jundiai Medical College, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil

Introduction: This study aimed to isolate and identify Candida spp. from the environment, health practitioners, and patients with the presumptive diagnosis of candidiasis in the Pediatric Unit at the Universitary Hospital of the Jundiai Medical College, to verify the production of enzymes regarded as virulence factors, and to determine how susceptible the isolated samples from patients with candidiasis are to antifungal agents. Methods: Between March and November of 2008 a total of 283 samples were taken randomly from the environment and from the hands of health staff, and samples of all the suspected cases of Candida spp. hospital-acquired infection were collected and selected by the Infection Control Committee. The material was processed and the yeast genus Candida was isolated and identified by physiological, microscopic, and macroscopic attributes. Results: The incidence of Candida spp. in the environment and employees was 19.2%. The most frequent species were C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis among the workers, C. guilliermondii and C. tropicalis in the air, C. lusitanae on the contact surfaces, and C. tropicalis and C. guilliermondii in the climate control equipment. The college hospital had 320 admissions, of which 13 (4%) presented Candida spp. infections; three of them died, two being victims of a C. tropicalis infection and the remaining one of C. albicans. All the Candida spp. in the isolates evidenced sensitivity to amphotericin B, nystatin, and fluconazole. Conclusions: The increase in the rate of hospital-acquired infections caused by Candida spp. indicates the need to take larger measures regarding recurrent control of the environment.

Construction and validation of an instrument that breaks the silence: the impact of domestic and/or sexual violence on women's health, as shown during climacterium

Objective: The aim of this study was to construct and to validate a measure of the consequences of domestic violence on women's health during climacterium. Methods: A questionnaire was administered at the Outpatient Climacterium Clinic to 124 women aged 40 to 65 years who were the victims of domestic and/or sexual violence (experimental group). They were divided into three groups: (1) those who were victims of violence exclusively during childhood/adolescence, (2) those who were victims of violence exclusively during adulthood, and (3) those who were victims of violence throughout their lives. The instrument included 34 items evaluating the beginning, frequency, and type of violence; the search for health assistance and reporting of the violence; the violence and the number of comorbidities; and violence and the Kupperman Menopausal Index. We also included a control group composed of perimenopausal and postmenopausal women who did not experience any violence (n = 120). Results: The instrument presented a Cronbach alpha = 0.82, good reliability among the examiners (+0.80), and a good possibility of reproducibility. The mean age of menopause was 45.4 years, and the mean age in the control group was 48.1 years. Group 1 showed a mean of 5.1 comorbidities, Group 2 had 4.6, and Group 3 had 4.4. Sexual violence (43.5%) and other types of violence both presented average comorbidities (4.60) but represented a significant impairment in the victim's sexual life. There were significant associations in group 3 and a high Kupperman Menopausal Index score. In the experimental group, 80.6% did not seek health services for the violence they experienced. Conclusions: The questionnaire presented good internal consistency and a validated construction. It can be easily reproduced and is indicated to evaluate the consequences of domestic and/or sexual violence on women's health during climacterium.

Candida spp. isolated from inpatients, the environment, and health practitioners in the pediatric unit at the Universitary Hospital of the Jundiaí Medical College, state of São Paulo, Brazil

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to isolate and identify Candida spp. from the environment, health practitioners, and patients with the presumptive diagnosis of candidiasis in the Pediatric Unit at the Universitary Hospital of the Jundiaí Medical College, to verify the production of enzymes regarded as virulence factors, and to determine how susceptible the isolated samples from patients with candidiasis are to antifungal agents. METHODS: Between March and November of 2008 a total of 283 samples were taken randomly from the environment and from the hands of health staff, and samples of all the suspected cases of Candida spp. hospital-acquired infection were collected and selected by the Infection Control Committee. The material was processed and the yeast genus Candida was isolated and identified by physiological, microscopic, and macroscopic attributes. RESULTS: The incidence of Candida spp. in the environment and employees was 19.2%. The most frequent species were C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis among the workers, C. guilliermondii and C. tropicalis in the air, C. lusitanae on the contact surfaces, and C. tropicalis and C. guilliermondii in the climate control equipment. The college hospital had 320 admissions, of which 13 (4%) presented Candida spp. infections; three of them died, two being victims of a C. tropicalis infection and the remaining one of C. albicans. All the Candida spp. in the isolates evidenced sensitivity to amphotericin B, nystatin, and fluconazole. CONCLUSIONS: The increase in the rate of hospital-acquired infections caused by Candida spp. indicates the need to take larger measures regarding recurrent control of the environment.

Quantifying the Economics of Medical Malpractice - A View from a Civil Law Perspective

Life is full of uncertainties. Legal rules should have a clear intention, motivation and purpose in order to diminish daily uncertainties. However, practice shows that their consequences are complex and hard to predict. For instance, tort law has the general objectives of deterring future negligent behavior and compensating the victims of someone else's negligence. Achieving these goals are particularly difficult in medical malpractice cases. To start with, when patients search for medical care they are typically sick in the first place. In case harm materializes during the treatment, it might be very hard to assess if it was due to substandard medical care or to the patient's poor health conditions. Moreover, the practice of medicine has a positive externality on the society, meaning that the design of legal rules is crucial: for instance, it should not result in physicians avoiding practicing their activity just because they are afraid of being sued even when they acted according to the standard level of care. The empirical literature on medical malpractice has been developing substantially in the past two decades, with the American case being the most studied one. Evidence from civil law tradition countries is more difficult to find. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the empirical literature on medical malpractice, using two civil law countries as a case-study: Spain and Italy. The goal of this thesis is to investigate, in the first place, some of the consequences of having two separate sub-systems (administrative and civil) coexisting within the same legal system, which is common in civil law tradition countries with a public national health system (such as Spain, France and Portugal). When this holds, different procedures might apply depending on the type of hospital where the injury took place (essentially whether it is a public hospital or a private hospital). Therefore, a patient injured in a public hospital should file a claim in administrative courts while a patient suffering an identical medical accident should file a claim in civil courts. A natural question that the reader might pose is why should both administrative and civil courts decide medical malpractice cases? Moreover, can this specialization of courts influence how judges decide medical malpractice cases? In the past few years, there was a general concern with patient safety, which is currently on the agenda of several national governments. Some initiatives have been taken at the international level, with the aim of preventing harm to patients during treatment and care. A negligently injured patient might present a claim against the health care provider with the aim of being compensated for the economic loss and for pain and suffering. In several European countries, health care is mainly provided by a public national health system, which means that if a patient harmed in a public hospital succeeds in a claim against the hospital, public expenditures increase because the State takes part in the litigation process. This poses a problem in a context of increasing national health expenditures and public debt. In Italy, with the aim of increasing patient safety, some regions implemented a monitoring system on medical malpractice claims. However, if properly implemented, this reform shall also allow for a reduction in medical malpractice insurance costs. This thesis is organized as follows. Chapter 1 provides a review of the empirical literature on medical malpractice, where studies on outcomes and merit of claims, costs and defensive medicine are presented. Chapter 2 presents an empirical analysis of medical malpractice claims arriving to the Spanish Supreme Court. The focus is on reversal rates for civil and administrative decisions. Administrative decisions appealed by the plaintiff have the highest reversal rates. The results show a bias in lower administrative courts, which tend to focus on the State side. We provide a detailed explanation for these results, which can rely on the organization of administrative judges career. Chapter 3 assesses predictors of compensation in medical malpractice cases appealed to the Spanish Supreme Court and investigates the amount of damages attributed to patients. The results show horizontal equity between administrative and civil decisions (controlling for observable case characteristics) and vertical inequity (patients suffering more severe injuries tend to receive higher payouts). In order to execute these analyses, a database of medical malpractice decisions appealed to the Administrative and Civil Chambers of the Spanish Supreme Court from 2006 until 2009 (designated by the Spanish Supreme Court Medical Malpractice Dataset (SSCMMD)) has been created. A description of how the SSCMMD was built and of the Spanish legal system is presented as well. Chapter 4 includes an empirical investigation of the effect of a monitoring system for medical malpractice claims on insurance premiums. In Italy, some regions adopted this policy in different years, while others did not. The study uses data on insurance premiums from Italian public hospitals for the years 2001-2008. This is a significant difference as most of the studies use the insurance company as unit of analysis. Although insurance premiums have risen from 2001 to 2008, the increase was lower for regions adopting a monitoring system for medical claims. Possible implications of this system are also provided. Finally, Chapter 5 discusses the main findings, describes possible future research and concludes.

Radiological stab wound channel depiction with instillation of contrast medium

The radiological depiction of stab wounds in soft-tissues using multislice computed tomography is difficult and the hereby obtained images often lack contrast. To overcome these shortcomings we tried a new method. We gently instilled the contrast medium Lipiodol((R)) Ultra-fluide into five experimentally induced stab wounds on a pork haunch. Subsequent MSCT reconstructions of the wounds delivered clear, for medical laymen easily appreciable images regarding the stab direction and the stab depth. We believe that this easy and rapid technique can be useful in the examination of stab wounds in living and dead victims of sharp trauma.

Correlation of fat embolism severity and subcutaneous fatty tissue crushing and bone fractures

Pulmonary fat embolism (PFE) is frequently encountered in blunt trauma. The clinical manifestation ranges from no impairment in light cases to death due to right-sided heart failure or hypoxaemia in severe cases. Occasionally, pulmonary fat embolism can give rise to a fat embolism syndrome (FES), which is marked by multiorgan failure, respiratory disorders, petechiae and often death. It is well known that fractures of long bones can lead to PFE. Several authors have argued that PFE can arise due to mere soft tissue injury in the absence of fractures, a claim other authors disagree upon. In this study, we retrospectively examined 50 victims of blunt trauma with regard to grade and extent of fractures and crushing of subcutaneous fatty tissue and presence and severity of PFE. Our results indicate that PFE can arise due to mere crushing of subcutaneous fat and that the fracture grade correlated well with PFE severity (p = 0.011). The correlation between PFE and the fracture severity (body regions affected by fractures and fracture grade) showed a lesser significant correlation (p = 0.170). The survival time (p = 0.567), the amount of body regions affected by fat crushing (p = 0.336) and the fat crush grade (p = 0.485) did not correlate with the PFE grade, nor did the amount of body regions affected by fractures. These results may have clinical implications for the assessment of a possible FES development, as, if the risk of a PFE is known, preventive steps can be taken.

The Cultural Construction Of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Sociopolitical Responses To Psychological Trauma In American And Vie

In my thesis, I incorporate both psychological research and personal narratives in order to explain why, in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, the United States officially recognized Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder while the Vietnamese government did not. The absence of Vietnamese studies on the impact of PTSD on veterans, in comparison to the abundance of research collected on American soldiers, is reflective not of a disparity in the actual prevalence of the disorder, but of the influence of political policy on the scope of Vietnamese psychology. Personal narratives from Vietnamese civilians and soldiers thus reveal accounts of trauma otherwise hidden due to the absence of Vietnamese psychological research. Although these two nations conspicuously differed in their respective responses to the prevalence of psychological trauma in war veterans, these responses demonstrated that both the recognition and rejection of PTSD was a result of sociopolitical factors: political ideologies, rather than scientific reasons, dictated whether the postwar trajectory of psychological research focused on fully exploring the impact of PTSD on veteran populations. The association of military defeat with psychological trauma thus fixed attention on certain groups of veterans, including former American and South Vietnamese soldiers, while ignoring the impact of trauma on veterans of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army. The correlation of a soldier¿s ideological background with psychological trauma, rather than exposure to actual traumatic experiences, demonstrates that cultural and sociopolitical factors are far more influential in the construction of PTSD than objective indicators of the disorder¿s prevalence. Culturally-constructed responses to disorders such as PTSD therefore account for the subjective treatment of mental illness. The American and Vietnamese responses to veterans suffering from PTSD both demonstrated that the evidence of mental health problems in an individual does not guarantee an immediate or appropriate diagnosis and treatment regimen. External authorities whose primary aims are not necessarily concerned with the objective treatment of all victims of mental illness subjectively dictate mental health care policy, and therefore risk ignoring or marginalizing the needs of individuals in need of proper treatment.

Therapy of basilar artery occlusion: a systematic analysis comparing intra-arterial and intravenous thrombolysis

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Basilar artery occlusion (BAO) is an infrequent form of acute stroke, which invariably leads to death or long-term disability if not recanalized. A traditional recanalization approach based on historical controls and pathophysiological consideration is local intra-arterial thrombolysis (IAT) in eligible patients. This necessitates diagnostic evaluation and treatment in stroke centers equipped with an interventional neuroradiological service on a 24-hour basis, but its superiority to the technically simple intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) remains unproven. METHODS: We analyzed systematically published case series of substantial size reporting the outcome of BAO after IAT or IVT. RESULTS: In 420 BAO patients treated with IVT (76) and IAT (344), death or dependency were equally common: 78% (59 of 76) and 76% (260 of 344), respectively (P=0.82). Recanalization was achieved more frequently with IAT (225 of 344; 65%) than with IVT (40 of 76; 53%; P=0.05), but survival rates after IVT (38 of 76; 50%) and IAT (154 of 344; 45%) were equal (P=0.48). A total of 24% of patients treated with IAT and 22% treated with IVT reached good outcomes (P=0.82). Without recanalization, the likelihood of good outcome was close to nil (2%). CONCLUSIONS: Recanalization occurs in more than half of BAO patients treated with IAT or IVT, and 45% to 55% of survivors regain functional independence. Although improved therapy forms for BAO are necessary, hospitals not equipped for IAT may set up IVT protocols. The effect of IVT is probably not much different from the effect of IAT. IVT represents probably the best treatment that can be offered to victims of acute BAO in such hospitals.

Application of 3D documentation and geometric reconstruction methods in traffic accident analysis: with high resolution surface scanning, radiological MSCT/MRI scanning and real data based animation

The examination of traffic accidents is daily routine in forensic medicine. An important question in the analysis of the victims of traffic accidents, for example in collisions between motor vehicles and pedestrians or cyclists, is the situation of the impact. Apart from forensic medical examinations (external examination and autopsy), three-dimensional technologies and methods are gaining importance in forensic investigations. Besides the post-mortem multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the documentation and analysis of internal findings, highly precise 3D surface scanning is employed for the documentation of the external body findings and of injury-inflicting instruments. The correlation of injuries of the body to the injury-inflicting object and the accident mechanism are of great importance. The applied methods include documentation of the external and internal body and the involved vehicles and inflicting tools as well as the analysis of the acquired data. The body surface and the accident vehicles with their damages were digitized by 3D surface scanning. For the internal findings of the body, post-mortem MSCT and MRI were used. The analysis included the processing of the obtained data to 3D models, determination of the driving direction of the vehicle, correlation of injuries to the vehicle damages, geometric determination of the impact situation and evaluation of further findings of the accident. In the following article, the benefits of the 3D documentation and computer-assisted, drawn-to-scale 3D comparisons of the relevant injuries with the damages to the vehicle in the analysis of the course of accidents, especially with regard to the impact situation, are shown on two examined cases.

Virtual autopsy using imaging: bridging radiologic and forensic sciences. A review of the Virtopsy and similar projects

The transdisciplinary research project Virtopsy is dedicated to implementing modern imaging techniques into forensic medicine and pathology in order to augment current examination techniques or even to offer alternative methods. Our project relies on three pillars: three-dimensional (3D) surface scanning for the documentation of body surfaces, and both multislice computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to visualise the internal body. Three-dimensional surface scanning has delivered remarkable results in the past in the 3D documentation of patterned injuries and of objects of forensic interest as well as whole crime scenes. Imaging of the interior of corpses is performed using MSCT and/or MRI. MRI, in addition, is also well suited to the examination of surviving victims of assault, especially choking, and helps visualise internal injuries not seen at external examination of the victim. Apart from the accuracy and three-dimensionality that conventional documentations lack, these techniques allow for the re-examination of the corpse and the crime scene even decades later, after burial of the corpse and liberation of the crime scene. We believe that this virtual, non-invasive or minimally invasive approach will improve forensic medicine in the near future.

Razor Thin Win: The 1972 Constitution Ballot, Campaign, Ratification & the Courts -- Mae Nan (Robinson) Ellingson & Mick McKeon “In the Crucible of Change”

Beyond the challenge of crafting a new state Constitution that empowered the people and modernized and opened up state and local government in Montana, the Constitutional Convention delegates, as they signed the final document, looked forward to the arduous task of getting it ratified by the electorate in a short ten week period between the end of the convention on March 24 and the ratification election of June 6, 1972. While all 100 delegates signed the draft Constitution, not all supported its adoption. But the planning about how to get it adopted went back to the actions of the Convention itself, which carefully crafted a ballot that kept “hot political issues” from potentially killing the entire document at the polls. As a result, three side issues were presented to the electorate on the ballot. People could vote for or against those side issues and still vote to ratify the entire document. Thus, the questions of legalizing gambling, having a unicameral legislature and retaining the death penalty were placed separately on the ballot (gambling passed, as did the retention of the death penalty, but the concept of a one-house legislature was defeated). Once the ballot structure was set, delegates who supported the new Constitution organized a grassroots, locally focused effort to secure ratification – thought hampered by a MT Supreme Court decision on April 28 that they could not expend $45,000 in public monies that they had set aside for voter education. They cobbled together about $10,000 of private money and did battle with the established political forces, led by the MT Farm Bureau, MT Stockgrowers’ Assn. and MT Contractors Assn., on the question of passage. Narrow passage of the main document led to an issue over certification and a Montana Supreme Court case challenging the ratification vote. After a 3-2 State Supreme Court victory, supporters of the Constitution then had to defend the election results again before the federal courts, also a successful effort. Montana finally had a new progressive State Constitution that empowered the people, but the path to it was not clear and simple and the win was razor thin. The story of that razor thin win is discussed in this chapter by the two youngest delegates to the 1972 Constitutional Convention, Mae Nan Ellingson of Missoula and Mick McKeon, then of Anaconda. Both recognized “Super Lawyers in their later professional practices were also significant players in the Constitutional Convention itself and actively participated in its campaign for ratification. As such, their recollections of the effort provide an insider’s perspective of the struggle to change Montana for the better through the creation and adoption of a new progressive state Constitution “In the Crucible of Change.” Mae Nan (Robinson) Ellingson was born Mae Nan Windham in Mineral Wells, TX and graduated from Mineral Wells High School in 1965 and Weatherford College in Weatherford, TX in 1967. Mae Nan was the youngest delegate at the 1972 Convention from Missoula. She moved to Missoula in 1967 and received her BA in Political Science with Honors from the University of MT in 1970. She was a young widow known by her late husband’s surname of Robinson while attending UM graduate school under the tutelage of noted Professor Ellis Waldron when he persuaded her to run for the Constitutional Convention. Coming in a surprising second in the delegate competition in Missoula County she was named one of the Convention’s “Ten Outstanding Constitutional Convention Delegates,” an impressive feat at such a young age. She was 24 at the time, the youngest person to serve at the ConCon, and one of 19 women out of 100 delegates. In the decade before the Convention, there were never more than three women Legislators in any session, usually one or two. She was a member of the American Association of University Women, a Pi Sigma Alpha political science honorary, and a Phi Alpha Theta historical honorary. At the Convention, she led proposals for the state's bill of rights, particularly related to equal rights for women. For years, Ellingson kept a copy of the preamble to the Constitution hanging in her office; while all the delegates had a chance to vote on the wording, she and delegate Bob Campbell are credited with the language in the preamble. During the convention, she had an opportunity that opened the door to her later career as an attorney. A convention delegate suggested to her that she should go to law school. Several offered to help, but at the time she couldn't go to school. Her mom had died in Texas, and she ended up with a younger brother and sister to raise in Missoula. She got a job teaching, but about a year later, intrigued with the idea of pursuing the law as a career, she called the man back to ask about the offer. Eventually another delegate, Dave Drum of Billings, sponsored her tuition at the UM School of Law. After receiving her JD with Honors (including the Law Review and Moot Court) from the UM Law School Ellingson worked for the Missoula city attorney's office for six years (1977-83), and she took on landmark projects. During her tenure, Missoula became the first city to issue open space bonds, a project that introduced her to Dorsey & Whitney. The city secured its first easement on Mount Sentinel, and it created the trail along the riverfront with a mix of playing fields and natural vegetation. She also helped develop a sign ordinance for the city of Missoula. She ended up working as bond counsel for Dorsey & Whitney, and she opened up the firm's full-fledged Missoula office after commuting a couple of years to its Great Falls office. She was a partner at Dorsey Whitney, working there from 1983 until her retirement in 2012. The area of law she practiced there is a narrow specialty - it requires knowledge of constitutional law, state and local government law, and a slice of federal tax law - but for Ellingson it meant working on great public projects – schools, sewer systems, libraries, swimming pools, ire trucks. At the state level, she helped form the Montana Municipal Insurance Authority, a pooled insurance group for cities. She's shaped MT’s tax increment law, and she was a fixture in the MT Legislature when they were debating equal rights. As a bond lawyer, though, Ellingson considers her most important work for the state to be setting up the Intercap Program that allowed local governments to borrow money from the state at a low interest rate. She has been a frequent speaker at the League of Cities and Towns, the Montana Association of Counties, and the Rural Water Users Association workshops on topics related to municipal finance, as well as workshops sponsored by the DNRC, the Water and Sewer Agencies Coordination Team, and the Montana State University Local Government Center. In 2002, she received an outstanding service award from the Montana Rural Water Users Association. In addition to being considered an expert on Montana state and constitutional law, local government law and local government finance, she is a frequent teacher at the National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL) Fundamentals of Municipal Bond Law Seminar and the NABL Bond Attorney’s Workshop. For over 30 years Mae Nan has participated in the drafting of legislation in Montana for state and local finance matters. She has served on the Board of Directors of NABL, as Chairman of its Education Committee, was elected as an initial fellow in 1995 to the American College of Bond Counsel, and was recognized as a Super Lawyer in the Rocky Mountain West. Mae Nan was admitted to practice before the MT and US Supreme Courts, was named one of “America’s Leading Business Lawyers” by Chambers USA (Rank 1), a Mountain States Super Lawyer in 2007 and is listed in Best Lawyers in America; she is a member and former Board Member of NABL, a Fellow of the American College of Bond Counsel and a member of the Board of Visitors of the UM Law School. Mae Nan is also a philanthropist who serves on boards and applies her intelligence to many organizations, such as the Missoula Art Museum. [Much of this biography was drawn from a retirement story in the Missoulian and the Dorsey Whitney web site.] Mick McKeon, born in Anaconda in 1946, is a 4th generation Montanan whose family roots in this state go back to the 1870’s. In 1968 he graduated from Notre Dame with a BA in Communications and received a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Montana Law School in 1971. Right after graduating from law school, Mick was persuaded by his father, longtime State Senator Luke McKeon, and his uncle, Phillips County Attorney Willis McKeon, to run for delegate to Montana’s Constitutional Convention and was elected to represent Deer Lodge, Philipsburg, Powell, and part of Missoula Counties. Along with a coalition of delegates from Butte and Anaconda, he fought through the new Constitution to eliminate the legal strangle hold, often called “the copper collar,” that corporate interests -- the Anaconda Company and its business & political allies -- had over state government for nearly 100 years. The New York Times called Montana’s Constitutional Convention a “prairie revolution.” After helping secure the ratification of the new Constitution, Mick began his practice of law in Anaconda where he engaged in general practice for nearly 20 years. Moving to Butte in 1991, Mick focused has practice in personal injury law, representing victims of negligence and corporate wrongdoing in both Montana district courts and federal court. As such, he participated in some of the largest cases in the history of the state. In 1992 he and his then law partner Rick Anderson obtained a federal court verdict of $11.5 million -- the largest verdict in MT for many years. Mick’s efforts on behalf of injured victims have been recognized by many legal organizations and societies. Recently, Mick was invited to become a member of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers - 600 of the top lawyers in the world. Rated as an American Super Lawyer, he has continuously been named one of the Best Lawyers in America, and an International Assn. of Trial Lawyers top 100 Trial Lawyer. In 2005, he was placed as one of Montana’s top 4 Plaintiff’s lawyers by Law Dragon. Mick is certified as a civil trial specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and has the highest rating possible from Martindale-Hubble. Mick was awarded the Montana Trial Lawyers Public Service Award and provided pro bono assistance to needy clients for his entire career. Mick’s law practice, which he now shares with his son Michael, is limited to representing individuals who have been injured in accidents, concentrating on cases against insurance companies, corporations, medical providers and hospitals. Mick resides in Butte with his wife Carol, a Butte native. Mick, Carol, Michael and another son, Matthew, who graduated from Dartmouth College and was recently admitted to the Montana bar, enjoy as much of their time together in Butte and at their place on Flathead Lake.