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Thursday, February 27, 2003Already, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, which is lobbying heavily against the Bush plan, is working with Democrats in Washington to arrange for the Santillan family's lawyer to testify in Congress, where a hearing on medical malpractice is scheduled on Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The lawyer, Kurt Dixon, sent a letter to the committee chairman today, asking to appear. "I urge you to save a seat for Jesica," Mr. Dixon wrote. "America deserves to understand how people like Jesica and her family would be affected by the legislation your committee is considering." Don’t be surprised if Mr. Dixon means that "save a seat" literally. One of the favorite ploys of trial lawyers is to display a picture of the deceased where the plaintiff would normally sit during a trial. They like to manipulate emotions that way. The argument they'll use is that this young life is worth more than $250,000. Indeed it is. Life is priceless. There is no adequate monetary award to compensate for loss of life. Or for injury. The Santillan family's pain and suffering isn't going to be alleviated by a multi-million dollar award. But the trial lawyer's aren't really interested in alleviating the pain and suffering of the family. They're interested in saving their personal gold mine that is the current tort system. As the president of the Trial Lawyer Association put it: Mary Alexander, the association's president, said it would be extremely difficult for the Santilláns to sue under a $250,000 cap, because it costs nearly that much to bring a case. If it does cost $250,000 to bring a case, which I very much doubt, you can bet that most of that is attorney fees. What Mrs. Alexander is really saying is that trial attorneys won’t make as much money if punitive damages are capped. Tort reform is an issue that must be addressed. Let's hope that Congress exercises some sensible judgement today and doesn’t let emotion rule the day. posted by Sydney on 2/27/2003 07:45:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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