 The "St. Petersburg Times" wrote at that time that Coale, like his wife Greta Van Susteren, was a practicing Scientologist.Richard Scruggs, like John Coale, and a few other lawyers who participated in the Ritalin class action lawsuits, had previously helped win a landmark settlement from the asbestos and tobacco industries, Ritalin was to be the next major battleground.Scruggs would lead and also become a spokesman for the plaintiffs.