LAW: Class Action Lawsuits

Dwight Peterson has sent another criticism of lawyers, perhaps reflecting some personal experience. Rob Gaudet is known as a generous, public spirited individual, and his feeling are obviously hurt. He writes: "This week I advised three homeless men pro bono publico via the Union Gospel Mission in Seattle. Two of them were convicted felons.

I cannot do my full-time work for free because I have bills to pay and, unfortunately, I do require food to eat and a shelter over my head. Perhaps Mr. Peterson envisions a profession of lawyers who do not eat, do not sleep, have no bills, and wear no clothes. Alas, I am just a human. If you prick me, I bleed. If you give me a loan to pay for Stanford law school, I will sign it. If you show me an apartment that's close to work, I will sign the lease and move in. Hence, I require a salary.

Mr. Peterson offers no real alternative to the current system. He criticizes the plaintiff's lawyers for getting paid, but he doesn't offer any viable alternative. Perhaps he would prefer the UK model where the government does pay for some types of class action lawsuits but that wouldn't work here.

I'm afraid there is no way to please Mr. Peterson or Ms. Brennan. They belong to a group of people that I would single out during voir dire in order to exclude them from my jury. They are set in their ways and they are simply not open to new opinions. If Mr. Peterson thinks that all plaintiffs lawyers are somehow dirty, then how would my client possibly get a fair trial?

I'm not sure what Mr. Peterson has against used car sales people. Maybe he paid too much for a used lemon. Used car sales people are, also, constrained by numerous federal and state laws. For example, Illinois is rife with laws against deceptive practices in selling cars, and California has powerful statutes against deceptive advertising, deceptive sales, and unfair acts to protect all consumers.

Lawyers have the added obligation of following their own rules of professional conduct at the cost of being disbarred. As we determined in earlier discussions, journalists do not have the same obligations and neither do car salesmen".

RH:
It so happens that we have visiting us WAISer Philip Huyck, a Stanford-trained lawyer who is licensed to practice in New York and California. I have discussed this problem at length with him, and here are some of the points he made. Like Rob, he is a very honorable person, and he defends his profession, but he admits there are abuses. Here are some of the points he made. He is especially critical of contingency lawyers, whose payment depends on their winning the case. They are very skillful at finding cases and presenting them to the accused party or its insurance company in such a way that it pays rather than go through an expensive trials, Phil used the word extortion, although he admitted it is technically not correct.

Damages for the cost of treating an injury may be augmented by damages for pain and suffering and punitive damages. While the law varies from state to state, plaintiffs prefer jury trials, since juries side with the little man and award huge payments if the accused in wealthy. Phil cited the case of a woman who fell and broke her wrist on a sidewalk. She was able to prove that the sidewalk was in poor repair and was awarded half a million dollars. Texas is notorious for its large awards, and that is why the Bush administration wishes to cap pain and suffering at $250,000.

There is do doubt that this is driving up insurance rates, notably for doctors. Awards are so high that insurance companies are either refusing to insure them or are raising premiums to such a level that doctors are leaving the profession, since they can earn more as a plumber. Obstetrics is such a tricky business that many doctors are refusing to deliver babies. Presumably a mother's complaint would wrench a jury's hearts. Doctors, like companies, are required to keep records of complaints, and the records are available to plaintiffs.

All this explains why California is in a mess. Workmen's compensation laws are such that companies do not wish to open plants here, preferring Nevada or Oregon. That is why people settled in California are moving out, while there is massive immigration, much of it illegal, mostly from Mexico. Unless the laws are changed, the decline of California will continue.

To go back to the original question. While the majority of lawyers are like Rob honest, there is a while section of law which needs to be reformed, making the abuses described difficult or impossible.