[JBW]

Thanks for asking. The book is in its final stage of proofreading and should be available for online sales in mid-late May through www.iuniverse.com. It will be available through amazon and barnes & noble a few weeks later. I'll have some kind of announcement when that happens.

Your idea of some kind of "pre-screening" device has been suggested by others. (A grand jury is a criminal procedure concept and wouldn't apply to civil suits, but one can imagine other kinds of pre-screening procedures). In particular some states have proposed reforms for med-mal cases based on pre-screening.

In my view, pre-screening will create more problems than it will solve. In the long run, the most efficient way to reduce the amount of civil litigation is to cap punitive damage awards (in the manner suggested by the Supreme Court in its recent State Farm case) and to allow for fee-shifting through a modified offer of judgment rule.

Thanks for your interest in the book!

[xzins]

I am interested. Ping me when it's out.

Also, so far as capping punitive damage awards, there would have to be some formula for determining both the level and/or extent of damage, the intent to damage and/or the level of negligence, the value of the object lost; and the means of the offender. (And probably a few things I've overlooked.)

If I run over your cat, then we have: (1) a dead cat is pretty extensive for the cat, but no so extensive for the living human; (2) Big difference if I targeted that cat, was ignorantly on my cell phone, or was distracted by traffic; (3) Cat's generally range from free to a couple hundred bucks, but sometimes they're loved; (4) and let's say I'm a middle class kind of guy so there's not much I can afford, and, therefore, a thousand bucks (a 50th of a middle class income) will teach me a big lesson. Put those all on a continuum and multiply and you come up with some kind of numerical cap.

Is that what you're recommending?

In terms of med-mal, I've always thought some kind of arbitration agreement prior to receiving medical care is a good way for docs to go.