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Trial Lawyers Looking for a $100 Billion Coronavirus Jackpot
Townhall.com ^ | August 4, 2020 | Stephen Moore

Posted on 08/04/2020 4:15:00 AM PDT by Kaslin

Not everyone is suffering job loss, income declines and financial devastation from the coronavirus pandemic. Some people are looking to get rich off the tragedy. Trial lawyers see COVID-19 casualties and images of asbestos and tobacco lawsuits dancing in their heads. They are drooling over the prospects of a $100 billion COVID-19 jackpot. The Democrats in Congress. whom the trial bar has spent years buying and paying, can't wait to help in the grand heist.

They aren't wasting any time. The Wall Street Journal reports, "Employers across the country are being sued by the families of workers who contend their loved ones contracted lethal cases of COVID-19 on the job, a new legal front that shows the risks of reopening workplaces."

Who's in the bulls-eye? So far, the deep pockets include Walmart Inc., Safeway Inc., Tyson Foods Inc., nursing homes and hospitals. They are seeking millions for gross negligence or wrongful death, and the cases are mounting. So far, the number of suits is approaching 5,000.

The Journal reports, "Employees' loved ones contend the companies failed to protect workers from the deadly virus and should compensate their family."

In past class-action suits, such as asbestos, trial lawyers have won judgments of more than $40 million per case, with about 40 percent of the awards going to the legal counsel. This is why in many towns across America, the richest residents are the lawyers.

No one disputes that when a worker or customer is harmed because of negligent behavior by the business, the victims deserve compensation. That is necessary and proper to contain reckless behavior by businesses. But now employers are getting sued for random illnesses by workers or customers. The problem is that workers bear a big cost of this roulette-wheel justice. Many small-business owners are now saying they are reluctant to bring on new workers when any illness can result in a million-dollar lawsuit.

If we want to get jobs back in a hurry as we enter the economic recovery stage, these nuisance lawsuits need to go away. A new study that I did with Donald Kochan, a law professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, calculates that ambulance-chasing trial lawyers could file 100,000 lawsuits in the next two years, and this would wipe out up to one million jobs. Wages could fall by $50 billion.

But there are other costs of sham lawsuits. The big corporations like Walmart have insurance funds for these cases and will settle most of these lawsuits rather than going to court. Thousands of nursing homes, hospitals, restaurants, bars and movie theaters could go bankrupt as a result of these suits. Where will seniors go for the assisted care they need? How is closing down rural hospitals in the public interest?

In the phase-four "stimulus" negotiations, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) has included a provision that moves the legal standard for such suits to negligence. Sick employees or customers will have to show that the business was directly responsible for the illness or death. This makes sense and is clearly in the public interest. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will have none of it because it may cause the steady flow of trial bar contributions to slow down. Bloomberg reports that in the 2018 midterm elections "nearly 80 percent of a record $160 million in estimated lawyer and law firm-connected donations to campaigns and parties ahead of congressional midterms went to Democrats."

t was evidently a good investment, even if their haul in the next 12 months is only a fraction of the $100 billion that is projected. The trial lawyers are the bottom feeders in the swamp that President Donald Trump has promised to drain.

The trial bar portrays the McConnell bill as a gift to corporate America. In reality, the victims of baseless lawsuits are workers, consumers and the elderly. Trial lawyers are a tax on the American economy. Remember this the next time you see a red Maserati convertible pull up to the curb. It's probably a trial lawyer who got rich by donating to Democratic politicians. It's time for this racket to end now


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: coronavirusrecovery; cvirusrecovery; lawyers; smallbusiness

1 posted on 08/04/2020 4:15:00 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin
Speaking of liability, look what Cuomo did last night...

What COVID-19 liability protections for nursing homes, hospitals in NY will be changed

How COVID-19 liability for nursing homes could change

2 posted on 08/04/2020 4:23:40 AM PDT by mewzilla (Break out the mustard seeds.)
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To: Kaslin

Scum.


3 posted on 08/04/2020 4:23:59 AM PDT by neverevergiveup
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To: Kaslin
What do you call a plane crash killing 100 lawyers?

A good start.

4 posted on 08/04/2020 4:25:42 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (The Rats Just Can't Get Over The Fact That They Lost A Rigged Election!)
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To: Kaslin

Needs indemnifying pronto...!


5 posted on 08/04/2020 4:30:46 AM PDT by Does so (Neo-Venezuelans = Democrats = Rioters = Looters)
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To: Does so

N.I.P.


6 posted on 08/04/2020 4:32:49 AM PDT by Does so (Neo-Venezuelans = Democrats = Rioters = Looters)
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To: Gay State Conservative

A waste of a good airplane.


7 posted on 08/04/2020 4:56:33 AM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: Kaslin

A lot of this mask nonsense IMO reflects fears of liability on the part of the business community.

A blanket immunity should be passed. Of course it won’t since Pelosi controls the House.


8 posted on 08/04/2020 5:51:41 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog (Patrick Henry would have been an anti-vaxxer)
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To: Buckeye McFrog

The deep state is the American Bar Association.


9 posted on 08/04/2020 6:09:49 AM PDT by Midnitethecat (St)
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To: Midnitethecat

Very true. How many Congresscritters are lawyers? 80, 90%?


10 posted on 08/04/2020 6:15:57 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog (Patrick Henry would have been an anti-vaxxer)
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What’s the difference between a lawyer and a catfish? One is a filthy, slimy, scum-sucking bottom-feeder and the other is a fish.


11 posted on 08/04/2020 6:30:07 AM PDT by donaldo
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To: Kaslin

Trial Lawyers any questions why medical and insurance costs are so damned high.


12 posted on 08/04/2020 8:54:13 AM PDT by Vaduz (women and children to be impacIQ of chimpsted the most.)
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