Lawyers aren't the problem - Tort Reform

[bleedingheart]

I hear all this talk about Lawyers being the problem....BUT people are missing the underlying issue. THE PEOPLE WHO HIRE LAWYERS. You see my father-in-law is an attorney, people come to him with the cases they wish to pursue.

The funny thing about this tort-reform issue is the fact that people think that the lawyers are the ones who just found a client that they convinced to sue...and that is just not the case in the majority of lawsuits.

In fact most reputable attorneys will turn away people that have no case....because a reputable and good attorney isn't going to waste his/her time with silly cases.. There are attorneys that will take money from fools who insist on pursuing their case but hell that is the nature of a free market...where ever there is a need a solution/supply will emerge.

The irony of all this is that the GOP politicians (loads of lawyers in that group) demonize lawyers...because they want Americans to actually give up the rights they have...this from the party that supposedly wants government out of their lives....but instead they want you to have the government limit your rights through legislation....it is laughable.....

on edit: I want to clarify that I don't think that people have no rights to sue or that people are wrong to sue...what I want to point out is that lawsuits are brought by people who have encountered a problem that can't be solved in any other way... it is a wonderful thing to have the right to do so.... but the GOP has twisted this around to paint it as the 'evil laywers' rather than put the human face on it...like the kid whose intestines got ripped out by a pool pump system...

[Heyo]

1. whoever is causing the problem....

.. I don't think the barrage of massive medical malpractice suits is helping anyone get health care any easier or cheaper...

Heyo

[LincolnMcGrath]

5. the barrage of massive medical malpractice suits

Fact or opinion?


WE like facts here, not spin or opinion.

[Heyo]

7. even opinion is verboten?

really...?

Heyo

:toast:

[bleedingheart]

6. Tort Reform of all sorts has been pushed by the GOP

so this applies to all...whether it is suing an employer or a doctor.

Are you saying that the women who were affected by bad breast implants had no rights or the men/women who got asbestosis had no rights to sue?

Have you heard the insurance industry promise to reduce rates immediately after tort reform was passed???

[Redleg]

2. The people who hire lawyers aren't the problem either.

There are a number of mechanisms to prevent bogus lawsuits from proceeding through the system as well as penalties for plaintiff's attorneys who push them.

Bush is conflating spurious lawsuits with lawsuits resulting in large awards to the plaintiff. Truly spurious lawsuits will not end in favor of the plaintiff and will therefore have no award to the plaintiff.

As for medical malpractice, most people are not aware that medical malpractice is the 6th largest cause of death in the U.S. We need to have the right to sue doctors whose negligence hurts or kills us.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. In total agreement with you. If, for example, neighbors would TALK TO

ONE ANOTHER AND COMPROMISE instead of calling their lawyers, there could be resolution without lawsuits.

I once did a paper for legal history that premised that there weren't too many lawyers in the U.S. I cited the market theory where if less people ran to lawyers to prosecute (sometimes persecute) their adversaries, then yeah, there would be too many lawyers. My theory has been proven to be truth over the years.

[Warpy]

4. Talking point on "junk" lawsuits

The GOP just said that if you're injured or one of your loved ones is killed by a faulty product or drunk doctor, then they're just junk, worthless, not worthy of any redress or compensation. That's what their term "junk lawsuit" means. It means your life and the lives of your loved ones are JUNK.

Think about it.

[bleedingheart]

9. point taken...

the lives of the citizens are worthless unless they are a GOP ranger..

[Tempest]

8. Lawyers are NOT the problem. Nor are the cases people bring.

The problem are insurance companies investing in high risk ventures and then losing their asses.


The malpractice myth

http://www.dmregister.com/opinion/stories/c2125555/21716886.html

Yet between 1988 and 1998, U.S. health-care costs increased 74.4 percent while malpractice premiums increased 5.7 percent. The total premiums paid in 2000 added up to 0.56 of the nation's total health-care bill.

New information in a national database that collects reports of every judgment and settlement paid in malpractice demonstrates just the opposite. An analysis of that data by a consumer-advocacy group reveals malpractice payouts decreased by 8.2 percent between 2001 and 2002. Meanwhile, doctors" premiums didn't go down.

Damage awards greater than $1 million decreased more than 10 percent between those years. Doctors" premiums weren't affected.

There's simply no correlation between lawsuits and insurance rates. Rather, insurance rates are tied to the climate of the stock and bond market, where insurance companies invest much of their money.

[camero]

10. Also, they forget who uses lawyers the most

Corporations. Most lawsuits are brought by one corp against another or against the government to delay the enforcement of laws they don't like. And Corporate lawyers cost a bundle. I don't see pugs complaining about them.

[lfairban]

11. I agree.

One major reason the administration is pursuing tort reform is because they don't want Halliburton to be burdened with the liability for asbestos litigation, mostly from a subsidiary that Chaney got them to acquire.

I have collected some links on the issue:
http://home.columbus.rr.com/lfairban/Pages/Corporate.htm#Asbestos

[Skidmore]

12. There is plenty of blame to be shared by all--doctors, lawyers,

and insurers. All need to sit down and come to some sort of solution rather than gouge the consumer in the name of free markets and protecting professional privilege.

[bleedingheart]

14. but what the GOP doesn't want people to know is that there is a person

who was injured, wronged or killed ...which is why the lawsuit was brought in the first place.

The young man who dies from the faulty braking system in a car...
The young mother who dies after sponges are left in her uterus after the birth of a baby...
The man whose hand is mangled because the company he worked for took the shields off....

[Skidmore]

16. The doctors also need to quit protecting their own and

medical fees need to be more reasonable, insurance need to be a not for profit industry, and lawyers need weed out those who pursue frivolous suits.

[bleedingheart]

17. ah but that is common sense

...it would be a nice thing to see happen...

[AndyTiedye]

13. Many (perhaps Most) Lawsuits Are Pressed by Insurance Companies

who are attempting to recover what they paid out in claims.

Of course, it is still the insured who shows up in court as the plaintiff, since an accident victim will get a lot more sympathy
in court than his insurance company will.

Virtually all insurance policies have provisions requiring a
policyholder who files a claim to bring suit against any party
that the insurance company believes there is a case against
(to recover monies paid out to that policyholder as claims).

So if you think you'd "never file a suit like that", think again.

[bleedingheart]

15. everyone hates a lawyer until they need one...then they want the best