More sue happy people- rediculous.

[mellowyellow]

Re: More sue happy people- rediculous.

these are the same courts that awarded the woman<br />who burned her thighs with hot coffee at Mc-D's<br />a ton of money...

 

[bobingardner]

Re: More sue happy people- rediculous.

I recently attended my daughter's swearing-in ceremony at Fanuel Hall in Boston MA. I was struck by the different demeanor's exhibited by this new crop of lawyers. Some were smiling and chatting with each other (my daughter was in this group) and others seemed cold and clinical. They didn't smile and didn't seem to want to socialize. It scared me to think that my baby might have to "fight" them in court and I started to worry about her future. I didn't raise her to be greedy and I believe she'll put her principles and sense of fairness ahead of the human desire, that we all have, for material gain. Unfortunetly that may work against her as a lawyer.

 

[rolmops]

Re: More sue happy people- rediculous.

Hello.<br />Some people try to help others and some people try to take advantage of others.Some are called doctors and some are called business men or previously enjoyed car dealers.There are good ones, indifferent ones and lousy ones.Seems to me that lawyers are the same as anybody else.Lots of them help people in need,sometimes for free.Lots of them are just trying to make an honest buck with a hard days work.And lots of them are greedy bas/tards.They are much like most of us all.Its just that the greedy ones are so visible.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: More sue happy people- rediculous.

The real answer to any of the issues above, that may cross the line of common sense is TORT REFORM that includes a very healthy dose of PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. <br /><br />Tort laws, in this country have been enacted by lawyers for lawyers. If we were able to do nothing more the to rid our legal system of the CONCEPT OF DEEP POCKETS many of the law suits, that cross the line of reason, would be eliminated. As long as our state and national legislatures are full of lawyers we will remain at their mercy in the courtrooms.<br /><br />Under this cloud of the "deep pocket" philosophy, lawyers also rely heavily on the whining liberal sense of "they have the means, they should pay for these unfortunate people" (you know, the ones who can't figure out to remove their chads)when appealing to the juries.

 

[plywoody]

Re: More sue happy people- rediculous.

I am somewhat surprised how little regard many of you have for our courts and our legal system, especially when the foundation of this country is the rule of law.<br /><br />Or the notion of citizen rule, when the jury system, made up of citizens, seems to be completely discounted.<br /><br />It seems to me the whole basis for this country is being attacked with these "tort" reform arguments.<br /><br />It seems top me this "tort" reform push is a fairly transparent attempt by special interests to immunize corporatations from liability for their actions, using what seem to be emotional cases to prove their point.<br /><br />I guess I just have more faith in the legal system or the ability of citizens to decide what is, or isn't, right. Is it perfect? Of course not. But it is better than the alternative.<br /><br />We have all seen in the last few years dramatic evidence of what some corporations will do to the public or their shareholders--they certainly don't need anything more to limit the ability of the general public to fight back.

 

[aspeck]

Re: More sue happy people- rediculous.

PW, I agree with you. I am not a fan of "ambulance chasing lawyers", but we need to keep the judicial system in tact. With that said, I also feel that frivolous lawsuits get out of hand and something needs to be done. I would be in favor of limiting suits to "actual damage" plus a cap of $250,000 for pain and suffering. Also, loser pays court costs - both sides - with a cap on this also.

 

[Ralph 123]

Re: More sue happy people- rediculous.

Ya the system works so well that there are Doctors who refuse to practice is some jurisdictions. Remember all the doctor strikes? There are some places that have no, repat, no neuro surgeons due to tort laws and runaway juries. There are juries who award people millions for spilling hot coffee in their laps. Why? Well why not, it is bad, nasty, corporations and insurance companies paying so why not soak them?<br /><br />Unfortunately the system is broken and being badly abused. It is driving up the cots of health care which in turn is driving up the cost of everything. The system needs reform. Maybe the reform is caps. Maybe the reform is doing away with 33% contigency fees. Maybe it is some other measures. Something needs to be done.

 

[mellowyellow]

Re: More sue happy people- rediculous.

ditto Ralph.<br />do you think the plaitiff/lawyer would have even<br />taken the coffee case to court if it wasn't against<br />a multi-billion $ corp.? if she has bought the <br />coffee from a little mom and pop store, it never<br />would have gone to court IMO.<br />you don't know coffee is hot and can burn you?<br />stupid enuff to keep it in your lap and then<br />when it burns your thighs, it's someone else's<br />fault? the jury's settlement was so outragous,<br />the judge even lowered it BTW.<br />ridiculous is right.

 

[Ralph 123]

Re: More sue happy people- rediculous.

Exactly MY. Well said.<br /><br />Part of the problem IMHO is the demonizing of corporations by politicians. They even say the word like it is dirty. On the one hand they claim jobs are the most important thing and on the other they speak of corps as the enemy. They never seems to realize that the corps provide the jobs. Just look at all the movies out of Hollywood that portray Corps as evil.<br /><br />This makes it really easy for juries to award enormous judgements.

 

[rolmops]

Re: More sue happy people- rediculous.

Ralph and M.Y.<br />They only do it to the corporations that did not help finance their re-election campaign.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: More sue happy people- rediculous.

I am not typically a conspiritorialist but there are two elements working together here. The more the judical system drives up the cost of medical care via the outrageous settlements the louder the scream, from the left, for the government to take over healthcare. Is one element playing into the hands of the other? Hmmmmmm?<br /><br />Remember how the 'smartest woman in America', in her national healthcare scheme, outlawed law suits once the government was in charge?

 

[plywoody]

Re: More sue happy people- rediculous.

I think it is dangerous to decide something is frivolous simply from some report- When one has not been present at the trial and listened to all of the evidence presented.<br />I've had a fair bit of experience with courts, and while I have not always agreed with decisions, I have rarely found them to be frivolous.<br /><br />As far as medical malpractice, I would be somewhat more sympathetic if I thought the AMA was doing a better job of policing its own-they tend to circle the wagons and protect their own.<br /><br />I was involved in an official grievance filed against the local medical board over the grossly missed diagnosis of my daughter from her original eye doctor--I didn't like the original exam, and we got a second opinion from the local university medical center right away, and they found her real problem in 2 minutes.<br /><br />It never got to the lawsuit level, but the local medical board did nothing but try to protect its doctor against any questioning--until the guy, several months later, and several misdiagnoseses later (from my understanding) stuck a shotgun in his mouth and pulled the trigger.<br /><br />As far as demonizing corporations, from my experience corporations are neither moral nor immoral entities--they are amoral, in that they will tend to make decisions based on the impact to their bottom line, and solely on the bottom line. The more protection from liability they are given, the more the general public is put at risk, in my opinion.

 

[Ralph 123]

Re: More sue happy people- rediculous.

There are bad docs and bad companies just like there are bad anythings. Problem is, the system, as it functions today, is broken. Pharma companies won't produce vacines because of the product liability suits. Doctor's won't practice neuro surgery or obstetrics becuase of the high cost of insurance (which they are forced to pass on).<br /><br />We have turned into a culture that does not accept responsibility for our own actions. We blame everyone else for anything bad that happens. Attorneys run ads during the day that encourage people to blame someone else for their problems. It is now socially acceptable to blame others for your own stupidity. People have no shame (which used to be the natural governor of these things)<br /><br />Spill a cup of coffee? Sue. Fall off a ladder? Sue. Drive drunk and get into an accident? Sue the bartender or host of the party. Get fat from eating at McDonald's every day? Sue. Slip and fall? Sue. Have a risky surgery turn out less than hoped? Sue. Sue. Sue. Sue. <br /><br />Then, the same people complain there are no jobs, healthcare is expensive or non-existent, products are expensive, insurance is expensive, etc., etc., etc.,<br /><br />Can't have it both ways. Change is needed because it's not going to get any better on its own.

 

[plywoody]

Re: More sue happy people- rediculous.

Well, Ralph, there is no doubt that a lot of people are hoping to get something for nothing. Virtually every state in the union runs promotions on their lottery tickets to convince us of that very fact.<br /><br />I still think that an some sort of outside limit to lawsuits goes against the very thing this country was founded on--the court system and the ability of citizens to rule themselves.<br /><br />We see lots of examples of what appear on the surface to be frivolous lawsuits, and they very well may be, but my guess is that if they are really frivolous, they don't last too long generally in the courts. <br /><br />And I would still be more sympathetic to medical malpractice if I thought the medical governing body was doing everything they can to limit the occurance of malpractice, and I see nothing to indicate that is the case. I will bet that 90% of the malpractice awards are caused by no more that 10% of the practicioners.<br /><br />And I see so many other areas where legal reforms would be better targeted, like the ability of corporations to locate offshore to avoid any taxes, or set up off balance sheet special purpose entities and the like...<br /><br />Or the recently discovered mutual funds frauds, which took the attorney general of New York, with a fraction of the staff of the SEC, to bring to everyone's attention while the SEC dragged its feet.<br /><br />While I don't agree with suing McDonalds for becoming fat eating Big Macs, of course, I have faith in the legal system to do the right thing ultimately--Will it be perfect? Of course not, but neither will one size fits all "reforms" that eliminate the individual's rights to access the legal system for real wrongs, and ultimately the cure will be worse than the disease.

 

[LadyFish]

Re: More sue happy people- rediculous.

Let's face it, if it weren't for lawyers, we wouldn't need lawyers.