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House Democrat @RepCartwright smacked with ethics complaint over conflict of interest washex.am/2n3lDEQ
A government watchdog has filed an ethics complaint calling for a federal investigation into Dem Rep Matt Cartwright claiming that he violated conflict of interest rules by sponsoring bills that would benefit a law firm in which he has a multimillion-dollar financial interest.
The Pennsylvania Democrat recently introduced 2 bills that would increase the mandatory minimum liability insurance for commercial truck drivers from $750K to $4.5M.
The legislation stands to benefit Cartwright’s family’s Pennsylvania-based law firm, Munley Law, which specializes in commercial truck accident lawsuits, because it would allow higher payouts, a share of which go to litigants' attorneys.
Cartwright and his wife both have profit-sharing agreements with the firm that are valued between $2 million and $10 million, according to the congressman’s 2018 financial disclosure report.
Cartwright’s wife, Marion Munley, works as an attorney for the firm and is viewed as an industry expert in truck-related litigation.
The Munley Law website currently advertises a “record-breaking $26 million settlement” that Munley obtained in a “landmark truck accident case" in 2018.
Munley also served as chair of the Trucking Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice, a trial attorney trade group that has been lobbying for Cartwright’s bill, according to lobbying disclosure records.
Last year, the lobbying group praised Munley as a “titan of trucking litigation” who has helped “shape new laws.”
