Maybe you have heard the arguments that tort reform advocates use to champion their case at the state and federal level. They are leaving out some important facts, however.
My insurance premiums are rising because of all the tort lawsuits:
Not true. Rising insurance premiums have nothing to do with personal injury lawsuits. The insurance industry’s annual profit for 2004 was $38.7 billion. By 2007, that profit was up to $61.9 billion. Insurance companies are increasing your premiums even with when they are making record profits.
As a taxpayer, personal injury lawsuits cost taxpayers millions of dollars every year:
False. Proponents of tort reform know it is effective to go after your pocketbook by saying that lawsuits cost taxpayers millions of dollars every year. However, the studies they cite lack any sort of methodology or academic reliability. In fact, the organizations that perform the studies are often funded by insurance companies and drug companies.
The personal injury lawyers are getting all the money in tort lawsuits:
Wrong. Tort reform advocates know that lawyers get little sympathy, and they are an easy target for blame. What they overlook is that the contingency fee system has provided plaintiffs an access to justice for over two centuries. Many plaintiffs would not be able to afford an attorney otherwise. In personal injury cases, attorneys base their fees on a fair amount of what they recover.
If you were in favor of tort reform, has this changed your view?
Colson Hicks Eidson – Florida injury attorneys
