Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse of Central Texas

Mail Tribune
November 22, 2009

The article in the Mail Tribune Friday, Nov. 13, about Susan Saladoff's film documentation of "corporate America's manipulation of the U.S. justice system to prevent lawsuits" looks more like an attempt to become the Michael Moore of personal injury attorneys. A trial lawyer and plaintiff's attorney, Saladoff will not be showing the main thrust of this lobby: This isn't about justice; this is about money.

In our country, attorneys need to prove that an injured person became that way owing to the fault, or negligence, of someone else (or strict liability, where it is much easier to prove liability). And prove damages. Simple — but the personal injury lawyers want easier procedures for this, including easier class-action lawsuit procedures and more favorable in-court evidentiary laws — not to mention, keeping the existing imbalance of power in the personal-injury plaintiff's lobby. Which is why this strong lobby has kept health care from having any true reform by curbing medical malpractice-lawsuit abuses and the resulting unnecessary tests, a topic that isn't even on Congress' agenda due to their pressure.

Despite what Saladoff represents, tort reform is about curbing the excesses where any lawyer (especially personal injury ones) can sue anyone, for any reason, at no cost for that time, and the defendant must hire an expensive attorney at, let's say, $250 per hour (and much more if in a large city). Then, when that defendant does not have the money to continue the defense, he or she must cave in for a settlement out of court, regardless of the case's merit. And wait until you see the expenses of trial, such as depositions and expert witness costs (which is why arbitration has strong merit, strongly encouraged nationally and in this state, resisted by the trial lawyers, but that's another issue). The plaintiff's lobby does not make any consideration as to whether an average individual (one of us), a small business (this county), or larger one is put immediately at a disadvantage by the easy ability of that trial lawyer to sue and start the litigating business process to force an unreasonable settlement. Just talk to anyone in this county who has been sued.

This lobby crusades against any limitation on punitive damage awards — unlimited is better. Keep in mind that the awards for punitive damages — or the moneys to "punish" a defendant for that fault — does not go to reimburse out-of-pocket damages such as medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering (past, present and future as long as a jury or the judge decides). That's separate and compensated. This is money split between the attorney and his or her client — regardless of the stage of the proceeding — and if after an appeal, can be more than 50 percent for the attorney. It's free cash. And quite lucrative: just ask John Edwards (among other notables).

We could go on and on about the injustices that would be solved with reasonable and meaningful tort reform. Health care would be less expensive, if not for the free reign of the personal injury lawyers, their lawsuits (including frivolous ones), and resulting huge medical malpractice insurance premiums — which all of us pay for. Hiding behind the cloak of big corporations and the "justice" argument simply burdens all of us and is simply an argument to avoid ever having meaningful tort reform. When a personal-injury or plaintiff's attorney hits a big score, that attorney is wealthy; the rest of us pay for this, either in higher product or service costs (or the manufacturer simply goes out of business — but that's another story.) Isn't the American public the true victim of this process?

Which is what this documentary is all about: A public relations effort for the personal-injury lawyers' lobby.

Dennis Powers of Ashland was a practicing business and real estate lawyer for years, before joining the faculty of the School of Business at Southern Oregon University to teach business law. Now retired, he is professor emeritus and active in the community. Others supporting this opinion include Sue Corp and Judy Hoikka of Ashland, Herman Dennington of Gold Hill and Chuck Jaeger of Rogue River.