[Ernie Martin]

But we haven't answered Karl's basic question: can the lawyer sue without a plaintiff who suffered damages? And I think the basic answer is NO (or perhaps better, since any fool can sue, it will get dismissed for lack of standing very quickly and at little or no cost to the defendants).

As an example, say only one party suffered damages (death, injury or financial) and that party and his/her estate, legal representatives, heirs, successors, etc., all decide not to sue, then an attorney can't legitimately bring suit. Of course, the attorney may try to find someone adversely affected (e.g., distant relative, the company that employed a key employee killed in the accident) and use that entity as a plaintiff, but without a plaintiff who suffered damages there is no standing.

Ernie

P.S. I'm not an attorney but spent many years running companies or contract departments, with attorneys working for me. If I'm wrong here and there is some esoteric procedure by which an attorney without suffering plaintiffs can successfully sue, please correct this post.