July 10, 2004
50-0 FILES:
Lawyers beware: After November, it'll be too late to deal (Bill McClellan, 07/09/2004, St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Now that a trial lawyer has been named to the Democratic ticket, I fear my friends in the Missouri Trial Lawyers Association are feeling good about themselves. This would be a mistake. The future is bleak.In each of the last two years, the Legislature has passed a tort reform bill, and Gov. Bob Holden has vetoed it. Smart money figures Matt Blunt will be the next governor. He will not veto a tort reform bill. In fact, the call for tort reform will be a major part of his campaign. It will be part of his stump speech.
Do you know why tort reform is so popular? It's not because people like corporations. It's because people like doctors. So popular are doctors that had the Legislature passed a tort reform bill that protected only doctors, Holden might have grudgingly signed it. The Republicans did not want to risk that. They wanted medical malpractice reform as a campaign issue. So they passed a wide-ranging tort reform bill that Holden could not afford to sign without losing the trial lawyers to Claire McCaskill. The plan worked. Holden vetoed the bill, and the trial lawyers stayed with him. Which means he will probably fight off the McCaskill challenge and then lose to Blunt.
Barring something unforeseen happening, the Republicans will control the Legislature again next year. Rude Rod Jetton will be the House speaker. Forget civility. Forget reaching across the aisle to work things out. After November, it will be too late to make a deal.
Two items of note here: first, MO is Red, not Purple and certainly not Blue; and the presence of two layers, including a personal injury lawyer, on the Democratic ticket and their opposition to tort reform affords the President an opportunity to play this up as a choice between doctors or lawyers. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 10, 2004 10:04 AM
I hope the Bush people are smart enough to hit this hard in Pennsylvania, also, which has had a terrible problem with doctors leaving.
Posted by: Dan at July 10, 2004 11:15 AMThis is completely anecdotal, but doctors seem very unhappy with Edwards on the ticket.
Posted by: David Cohen at July 10, 2004 1:17 PMI'm waiting for the time when Edwards brings up health care costs and someone says to him: "You made millions suing doctors, and you wonder why health care costs have gone up?"
Posted by: PapayaSF at July 10, 2004 1:37 PMTread softly here, my friends. A lot of personal injury practice is at least as sleazy as popularly perceived. Doctors are "referring" patients to lawyers who return the favor, "specials" are inflated, and "victims" exaggerate their "injuries," pain," and "disability." Contrary to what the Bar claims, few of these cases are "lost": virtually all are settled for an amount that at least covers the lawyer's overhead.
The danger to our side, how~~~~, is that there still are many, many valid injuries with significant losses. It will be relatively simple for trial lawyers to produce truly sympathetic victims with horrendous damages caused by outrageous conduct, whose claims would be barred in whole or in part by the proposals, or, worse, whose just claims are presently so barred by laws intiated by those who are saying, "I'm from the corporation, and I'm here to help you." I suggest that we should no more want to talk about this issaue than the other side wants to talk about the guns.
Posted by: Lou Gots at July 10, 2004 1:49 PMThe same potential for gains on this issue exists here in Washington. Nethercutt's already been hitting it, and the AMA has been hammering away at it all year.
Posted by: Timothy at July 10, 2004 2:50 PMYes, the plaintiffs bar can present true victims in their effort to fight back, but they have not been very successful in most places where the issue has been put front and center.
Posted by: Dan at July 10, 2004 4:26 PMMissouri is indeed purple. All of those dead St. Louis voters who mysteriously show up to the polls even past closing time make it that way. :)
Posted by: kevin whited at July 10, 2004 7:19 PM