Long before he was elected to the U.S. Senate, a lot of people in Raleigh didn’t like John Edwards. Like insurance executives, defense lawyers and doctors, to be exact.

They took great delight in Edwards’ fall from political grace. Schadenfreude is the word for it: “a feeling of enjoyment that comes from seeing or hearing about the troubles of other people.”

Today, they might wish Edwards had never left Washington. Because he’s back in town and back in the courtroom. Back where he made his reputation and his fortune persuading jurors to help little guys who got hurt by big shots.

His law firm is representing three workers who were killed in a construction accident in downtown Raleigh last March. And Edwards is angling to get Volkswagen into court for fabricating mileage claims.

No doubt, Edwards’ old critics hate him even more today than they did 20 years ago.

They can take it up with the jury.