Guest Post by Loki
There has to be something done regarding tort reform in this country. Congress keeps ignoring the problem or protecting the lawsuit lawyers depending on your point of view.
Granted, some people are wrongly injured and need to seek redress in the court system. And without the threat of lawsuits large companies would never compensate deserving victims.
But the court system is being abused today. Many companies will settle frivolous lawsuits out of court just to avoid the costs of a trial in a form of legalized extortion. And you can not watch TV today without seeing a commercial saying that if you saw a doctor or took a pill you won the lottery and you can sue. I swear it seems there are more lawyers suing companies than there are different pills on the market.
The class action type of lawsuit is one of the worst. Lawyers gather hundreds of people into one lawsuit and use large numbers to threaten the companies. The whole process of a class action suit is extremely expensive and the lawyers on both sides get rich while the victims get the leftovers. This type of lawsuit is very lucrative to the lawyers bringing the suit. Their compensation will be millions of dollars while the victims might only get a couple of hundred dollars.
This brings us the stupidity of safe operating instructions on our products. Read some of the instructions that come with the things you buy today. Hair dryer instructions that tell you not to use them in the shower to motor home instruction telling you that cruise control does not mean you can leave the drivers seat to take a bathroom break.
The whole process is driving up the costs of everything we spend our money on. Your new car to your doctor bill will all cost you more. Lawyers hide behind the victims claiming without them the companies will win. So congress does nothing afraid of the fight. It is time we start demanding congress does something.
Loki
I made this suggestion to a member of our Legislature, and she seemed really interested, and that was the last I hear of it: Make all punitive damages go to the State’s general fund, not the plaintiff. Punitives can be a useful tool to make it cost ineffective to do wrong, but rewarding the lawyer is just a perverse incentive to seek it.
Steve – that’s a great idea. Of course the trial lawyers will have hissy fits and pull out all the stops to kill a bill that limits their paychecks like that. But I think it’s a concept that we need to keep floating out in front of the electorate.
Loki, who makes most of these “lottery”-like awards?
I vote for Steve’s idea. It would go a long way towards alleviating the problem.
Gregg – That would be well meaning jurors who make large awards thinking that insurance companies are rich and can afford to pay.
John Edwards made millions suing doctors, hospitals and anesthesiologists for causing cerebral palsy in newborns. Later it was shown that a vast majority of those cases originated long before childbirth.
Many lawsuits were made over vaccinations saying that they caused autism. Several studies proved that there was no link.
None of the money was refunded. We all pay for these suits threw higher premiums.
Whoops, used the wrong ‘threw’, should have used through.