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Organizations like CALA (Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse) want defense attorneys to soak up tax dollars, litigating cases against plaintiffs who have been wrongfully damaged.
These cases shouldn't be litigated, they should be settled.
But then the CALA lawyers wouldn't be paid, would they?
But CALA lawyers don't just want to get paid, they also want to win so insurance companies will keep hiring them.
So they go on a propaganda campaign against plaintiffs.
Insurance companies and their lawyers don't care who gets hurt or how many laws are violated, they just want to make sure that juries don't give money to plaintiffs.
Here's an article that describes the situation:
North County Times
San Diego
October 12, 2003
By:SCOTT MARSHALL - Staff Writer
VISTA ---- Playing off California's recent recall election, Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse held an online election last week to "recall" what it described as "crazy" lawsuits and to draw public awareness to the issue of frivolous lawsuits.
Some local attorneys dispute whether any lawsuit abuse problem exists and say national statistics back up their position that it does not.
While the opponents say laws need to be changed so the judicial system protects legitimate victims and businesses, some attorneys contend that the marketing effort to promote the concept of lawsuit abuse already has adversely affected those seeking justice in civil courts...
Chris Hulburt, the president-elect of Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, said the numbers cited by the groups to support their claims of a "lawsuit tax" have no basis in fact. No data exists to back up those contentions, Hulburt said.
"It's just nonsense," Hulburt said. "It's a marketing campaign."
Hulburt said that during the last 10 to 20 years statistics have shown that the number of civil lawsuits filed nationwide has steadily declined and that almost half the lawsuits filed involved businesses suing other businesses rather than cases of individuals seeking money for personal injuries or property damage.
"I think that there is no problem," Hulburt said. "I think it's something that big business has created as a massive marketing campaign that there's some crisis."
A National Center for State Courts report stated that the number of tort cases ---- which include personal injury, defamation and malpractice lawsuits ---- filed in 16 states, including California, rose 75 percent from 1973 to 1990, but have declined continually from 1990 to 2001.
The same report stated that combined figures from those 16 states and 14 others showed a 9 percent decline in the number of tort cases filed from 1992 to 2001.
In San Diego County, however, court cases have climbed in recent years: Court statistics showed that the number of civil lawsuits filed in almost all categories increased each year from the 1998-99 fiscal year to the 2001-02 fiscal year.
Statewide, lawsuits involving property damages, personal injury and wrongful death also have increased in number each year, but the total number of new lawsuits statewide involving more than $25,000 declined from 2000-01 to 2001-02.
Hulburt said some that of the lawsuits include businesses suing businesses and that the data showing increases locally should be compared to population increases in the county. Kotner said the figures show the problem is real.
Is 'reform' possible?
"It indicates that there is lawsuit abuse and we need to reform the system," Kotner said. "We need meaningful changes."
Laws need to be fair, Kotner said, and to provide protection for legitimate victims as well as for businesses.
Striking that balance may not be possible, said Nicholas Pace, a researcher at the Rand Institute for Civil Justice.
"Is there a way to filter out all the really bad cases and not filter out the legitimate cases?" Pace said. "No. There is no perfect system. ... I know when I see a case of lawsuit abuse, but it's difficult to write up a law that describes that and nothing else."
Hulburt and Escondido attorney Carla Dedominicis said the justice system already contains checks to prevent cases without merit from going forward and that campaigns to draw attention to lawsuit abuse already have made it harder for legitimate clients to obtain justice.
"There hasn't been a jury that's been picked in recent years where somebody hasn't expressed a disdain for frivolous lawsuits," Dedominicis said.
Hulburt said every lawyer has seen the same problem in the last five to 10 years because the lawsuit abuse campaign has successfully put the idea of lawsuit abuse in people's minds.
"It's a completely different environment in the courtroom, and it's much more difficult for a legitimate victim to get fair compensation," Hulburt said...
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