Posted on 05/30/2011 5:01:00 PM PDT by Dominic01
AUSTIN, Texas — Gov. Rick Perry signed into law Monday a measure that will limit frivolous lawsuits by levying some fees on plaintiffs and allowing meritless suits to be dismissed early in the process.
Perry designated the "loser pays" bill a top priority of the legislative session, saying Texas needs to crack down on junk lawsuits.
Some plaintiffs who sue and lose will be required to pay the court costs and attorney fees of those they are suing. The law also creates expedited civil actions for cases less than $100,000. It goes into effect Sept. 1...
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
BS...If you have a meritorious claim, then sue and don’t be afraid...What percent of claims are frivolous? >50% in med mal cases...If a physician was only 50% successful in every action, they would be out of work!!!
BS...If you have a meritorious claim, then sue and don’t be afraid...What percent of claims are frivolous? >50% in med mal cases...If a physician was only 50% successful in every action, they would be out of work!!!
I still blame the trial lawyers and a sue-happy mentality of Joe patient. Doctors have, for decades now, been overusing medical resources, in order not to be sued. It will take a new generation of doctors to break that mentality. Can't put the new wine into the old wineskin, and all that.
possibly- but what it will do is increase competition; from doctors who have been to afraid of getting their asses sued in specific regions or practices, from auto/home companies that won’t sell in specific areas because the defense of frivolous lawsuits surpasses the amount of claims they pay out...
>>Doctors have, for decades now, been overusing medical resources, in order not to be sued.<<<
BINGO!!! MRI’s, cat scans, etc, which cost insurance companies millions, are done as much, if not more, as a defensive mechanism for doctors who are afraid of getting sued as they are for legitimate prognosis/diagnoses of medical issues w/patients...
Snicker
We need more gravy train for attorneys that can sue the CRAP out of businesses that employ illegals when discovered to have caused the death of American citizens or loss of property. I believe if we could just REDIRECT the legal gravy train away from doctors and onto illegal alien ENABLERS.
How close is this law to a true Loser Pays law?
I’d like to see where such a law ever put a dent in insurance premiums or reduced the extent of insurance redlining.
Almost always, the “breathtaking” jury awards that crowd the news headlines end up quietly being reduced upon appeal.
How do YOU know “he did something wrong”?
What would YOU have him do?
Where does it say that you are entitled to perfection?
Life ends in death...some sooner and some later.
More to the point, why in hell should *I* pay (through higher insurance premiums, higher medical costs, etc) for YOUR perceived misfortune?
“I would really rather see a true “loser pays” tort reform, though.”
For the kind of tragic situations Terry outlines in post 13, I agree.
I would be in favor of no caps on awards, but instead have a loser pays system that would make plaintiffs and their attorneys think twice before filing suit.
Or, the attorney takes on the case with no hope of winning or even getting an out-of-court settlement, simply to get fees from the plaintiff - who may not even realize that he has a bad case. So my proposal is not for a 'loser pays' system, but for a 'loser's lawyer pays' system.
It's fun watching lawyers explain how this is a terrible, horrendous, impractical, unjust, unworkable, dead-brained really bad idea.
that’s the problem- there’s never been such a law...the rats don’t want to cut off their biggest campaign contributors- the trial lawyers...
Well, even one that comes close (like this) should either prove the doomsday screamings of insurance companies true — or else expose them for big liars.
Some kind of truth-based tort law has been the norm in civilized society since the days that Moses got the Ten Commandments. Some people who see the world only through economic glasses condemn God for being a supposed dolt about His own creation.
You do realize that frivolous lawsuits (as well as the defensive medicine practices that arise from them) make up roughly 40% of the cost of your health insurance coverage, right?
I guess not.
You do realize that wasn’t my point, right?
...
Blame the attorneys. They created this. And once people start getting hurt by it, they will go after the lawyers.
From what I’ve been able to find out, it’s pretty close, but still falls short. I need to do a bit more research on it to know.
Exactly
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