Staying with the law, every so often a case comes to light that makes you understand just why it is that lawyers have such a poor name among the general public. It has emerged that a group of personal injury lawyers in the United States, together with a top traffic safety consultant, failed to alert government safety regulators of problems they had identified with Firestone tyres on the popular Ford Explorer for four years.

In 1996, the consultant and the Texas lawyers identified 30 cases of tyre failure, some resulting in death. However, to prevent lawsuits being compromised, they kept silent. Some 203 people have died in accidents related to the tyre problem, which have been reported to regulators - of whom only 13 were killed by the end of 1996.

In other words, had the lawyers and the consultant raised the alert when they first became aware of the problem, 190 people might still be alive. Incredibly, according to legal sources, the lawyers' actions broke no laws and did not even violate any professional ethical code.

As the consultant put it, the lawyers' first duty was to win as much money as possible for the crash victims they represented - not surprising given that most work on the of being paid roughly a third of any eventual award - and they did not trust the regulators not to undermine their case.

Of course they are not alone. Apparently Firestone itself knew there were impending claims but did nothing to alert the public or safety regulators to any problems. Some system.