Why do Only Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Oppose Tort Reform
“Why is it that pretty much the only people on the planet who oppose tort reform… are plaintiff’s lawyers.”
That was the question posed in a comment on another of my blogs – Injury Lawyer Database. It was followed up by the lovely statement: “Sorry… it’s coming. Sack up.. get used to it. It’s time to sleep in the bed you’ve made”
Here was my hurried response:
“Well, the plaintiffs’ lawyers and all the people who had shitty doctors operate on the wrong leg, or leave an instrument inside of them, or fail to order a test they knew should have been ordered because they’d have to stay in the office and extra half hour to read the results, or who scheduled too many deliveries and couldn’t keep us with all the pitocin and didn’t C-section an obvious C-section and the kid then had cerebral palsy his whole life, or who didn’t diagnose the heart attack because they were too busy, or who gave gastric bypass to a patient who wasn’t a candidate because they wanted the extra $20,000 for their practice.
The only reason the plaintiffs’ lawyers are the ones who actively oppose are because we know these things happened as the result of negligence and neglect. The people who it happens to are already fucked. They might oppose, but it’s too late.
And the plaintiffs’ lawyers know the less consequences bad doctors face, the more it will happen.
The vast majority of docs are great, the vast majority of lawyers are honest, the vast majority of cops are excellent. But that doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be a fair process to find out which ones don’t meet standards. With doctors, that means the civil justice system.”
But let me instead invoke patriotism. BECAUSE OUR FOUNDING DOCUMENTS SAY SO!
The 7th Amendment to the Constitution (I know you all know the 1st and the 2nd Amendments…or at least think you do) says:
“In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.”
When people with power refuse to be judged, we lose our democracy. It’s happening all around you. This isn’t a left vs. right thing, a trump thing, a political thing. This is a those with power and money refusing to be judged thing. And again, it’s happening all around you.
