Tab Turner Picked as TLPJ 'Lawyer of the Year'

    ARLINGTON, Va., July 18 Tab Turner, a Little Rock,
Arkansas, attorney, has received the prestigious Trial Lawyer of the Year
Award from the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice.  He received the award for
his work in representing Donna Bailey in her Ford Explorer rollover following
a Wilderness tire tread separation that left Bailey a ventilator dependent
quadriplegic, and for his public advocacy work associated with the tire
recall, including his efforts to assist in the passage of the TREAD Act.
Turner is Safetyforum.com's Attorney of Record for Vehicle Stability and for
Tires.
    During the controversy that swirled around failures of Firestone
Wilderness AT tires and Ford Explorer rollovers, Turner used Safetyforum.com,
as well as assisting print and broadcast journalists around the country to
successfully attack Ford's multi-million dollar PR campaign to paint the
controversy as "a tire problem."  Turner's seemingly endless supply of Ford
documents and media pressure ultimately forced the two manufacturing giants
into an unprecedented and prolonged public exchange of accusations and finger
pointing.
    Using documents that he had accumulated during more than a decade of
representing victims in lawsuits against Ford because of rollover problems
with the Bronco II and Explorer, Turner educated the media and the public
that:

    *  The problem was a combination of a bad tire on a bad vehicle and was
not simply a tire problem;

    *  The Explorer has the same suspension design deficiencies that made the
Bronco II prone to rollover;

    *  Ford was involved in the original poor design and subsequent
modifications of the Firestone Wilderness AT tire that weakened an already
flawed tire;

    *  Rather than make Explorer design changes recommended by its engineers,
Ford management decided to improve the Explorer's stability by letting air out
of the tires;

    *  Ford's recommendation that Explorer owners under inflate Firestone's
Wilderness AT tires, caused them to run hotter and fail earlier resulting in
rollovers, deaths and injuries.

    Safetyforum.com and its employees, subscribers and associates salute Tab
Turner for the honor he brings to himself and to his profession.  The clarity
of his vision about utilizing the law and the court system combined with new
and powerful tools and techniques to pursue justice on behalf of those who
have been injured or killed by unsafe products and hazardous practices is an
example for others to follow.
    Turner shares the 2001 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award with Stanley M.
Rosenblatt and Susan Rosenblatt, a husband and wife team in Miami, Florida,
that won a precedent-shattering $145 million punitive damages verdict in Engle
v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. on behalf of some 500,000 Florida smokers in a
products liability class action against the entire tobacco industry.
Safetyforum.com likewise congratulates the Rosenblatts for their courage and
stamina in holding the tobacco industry accountable to consumers.
    For further details go to http://www.safetyforum.com .

    CONTACT:  Tab Turner, Little Rock, Arkansas
              501-791-2277

              Ralph Hoar, Safetyforum.com
              703-469-3700