Lawsuit Finance Blog

I read an interesting article in the New York Times that I would like to share with readers who may not have seen it. The despicable US Chamber of Commerce is crowing about its strategy to benefit big business and big insurance on the backs of injured and disabled citizens throughout the United States. In the article, Thomas J. Donahue congratulates himself and his legions for their "guts, bravery and vision" in taking on the "powerful trial bar" and succeeding "beyone our expectations". The US Chamber hides behind the banner of the "Institute for Legal Reform" and has had state by state legislative success.

The sad thing is that the so-called "powerful trial bar" is not so powerful and its assets and political reach pale in comparison to big business (Chamber) and the insurance industry lobbies. The trial lawyers are only popular to their injured clients (they are "greedy" to everyone else); those who are not injured or disabled are, simply, high insurance premium payers who welcome reform until they are the injured victims of it. Ask former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott who had to do battle with State Farm when his residence was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

To the ladies and gentlemen reading this post: You are one auto accident, one serious fall, one defective medication, or one medical mistake from being killed, maimed, seriously injured or disabled; and the Chamber and its alter-ego Institute for Legal Reform are laughing at you. Lawsuit filings are down; lawsuit results have been reduced, premiums are at an all-time high. Who is kidding who? The average consumer has not received a dime in relief from "tort reform" and they now must support, through increased taxes, disabled people, who, because of tort reform, could get no recovery in the private sector. They are now on Social Security Disability, Medicare or Medicaid.

The article makes it clear that the war is not over; while the Chamber has had multiple successes, the trial lawyers continue to seek the overturning of legislation and conservative judicial decisions that restrict injured citizens' access to the courts and to justice.

Class action litigation has been restricted at the federal level. At the state level, litigation levels have fallen as have huge verdicts. The American Association for Justice points to victories in Washington State, where voters approved a bill that permits treble damages for insurance company unreasonableness. In Colorado, a bill to limit attorney fees was withdrawn. Consumer friendly legislation is being pushed at the federal level, too.

It is interesting to note that most of the "tort reform" passed over the years involves recovery "caps", or limits placed upon the amount of money a victim can receive. The reason given for the need for these "caps" is so-called "lawsuit abuse" or "frivolous lawsuits". For the life of me, I cannot understand how capping serious lawsuits will prevent the filing of smaller, "frivolous" ones. A multi-million dollar verdict or judgment would suggest that a lawsuit is not "frivolous", would it not? Caps do not prevent the filing of nuisance suits; litigants can file those with impunity; tort reform "caps" seek to limit, at arbitrarily small numbers, large, well-deserved, seven figure jury verdicts. How does "top down" reform, solve the "bottom up" problem of frivolous lawsuits!?

The article expresses dismay (and so do I) over the fact that the debate does not center around fundamentally fair compensation for victims; the battle, according to law professor Robert L. Rabin of Stanford University, centers around "either defense-side interests or plaintiff-side interests rather than some overview of global fairness". Historically, civil lawsuits have, appropriately, sought to do two things: 1. compensate victims, and 2. punish wrongdoers so that they will try to avoid repeating their conduct.

According to the article, spending on justice and anti-justice campaigns totals in the multiple millions, with the Chamber outspending the trial lawyers 9 to 1. In addition, pro-business money has not only passed legislation, but gotten anti-justice candidates and judges elected and appointed. This type of "hidden" reform has been devastating to the rights of injured and disabled citizens in various parts of the country. Big business has been successful at swaying and stacking court majorities to the pro-business point of view at the expense of our weakest citizens: the injured and disabled. The Institute for Legal Reform has instituted a ranking system for various State courts throughout the country and has used its money and power to buy influence and change the balance of power to the benefit of big business and big insurance.

The stated purpose of noneconomic caps is to reduce unpredictable jury verdicts. However, this is done on the backs of those who need the money the most: lower income injured and disabled people. After all, a non-economic cap does not prevent a person with a significant income from receiving substantial monies for income loss, where the low income or unemployed person gets a capped recovery and little or no income loss recovery. If you were a top tier attorney, which case would you prefer?

I have been a trial lawyer for 30 years. Most of my professional brothers and sisters are interested in justice for their clients, regardless of economic circumstance. They fight hard for the rights of the injured and disabled and are not as sophisticated about political issues as big business and big insurance. But, they are learning, fast, and they are fighting back, hard. Don't count them out just yet. They can count on assistance from me and my company, Lawsuit Financial Corporation, to help their clients get the highest possible awards.

Lawsuit Financial provides capped lawsuit financing for Auto Accident Cases, Slip and Fall Cases, Product Liability Cases, Medical Malpractice Cases, Nursing Home Neglect Cases and many other types of personal injury litigation. Call us, toll free, at 1-877-377-SUIT (7848) to discuss your case funding situation or contact us on the web at www.lawsuitfinancial.com. The call and the advice are absolutely free.