Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Personal Injury Law Blogs -> Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer

Personal Injury Law

: Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer

Tort Reform is leading to more, not fewer personal injury lawsuits

By Steve Lombardi

Here is tort reform logic applied to obesity.

FIRST, THE PROBLEM AND ONE ROOT CAUSE -

Guilt-minded parents handing out participation trophies leads to fat lazy kids with bad character and an expectation of entitlement, just for showing up.

Obesity is all around us. In dizzying numbers kids are fat and lazy. Home air conditioning, video games along with working mother's and fathers keep kids indoors instead of playing outside at the ball diamond. We no longer expect our children to earn a trophy, instead feeling guilty we employ the participation trophy. McDonald French fries take the place of a tuna sandwich, two Oreo cookies and an apple. Instead of riding our bicycles down to the nearest brook to fish we car pool all the kids over to an enclosed-video-arcade for pizza and more treats.

Is the point that there are too many p.i. lawsuits or too many accidents causing injury?

Boys learn video game strategies instead of how to field a grounder. Girls learn texting, sexting and where to get the best sales, rather than how to sew clothes or cook. Now I'm not saying these are the gender rules that apply to growing up, but when I was growing up they did apply and so I'm going to borrow the analogy. Boys need to learn how to cook and wash clothes just as much as girls do. Girls need to learn how to score goals as much as any boy does.

Look around at the mall and the state fair and chances are you'll see fat kids waddling besides two obese parents. They are everywhere and so today we say kill all the dietitians. Because like tort reform if the lawyers are to blame for filing lawsuits then so must the dietitians be blamed for obesity.

We don't need tort reform; but we do need accidental injury reform.

Lawyers treat unpaid medical bills and uncompensated injuries; just as dietitians help to treat obesity. If you blame lawyers for the need for lawsuits then you too have to blame dietitians for the need to treat obesity.

Over-fed has to be compared to over-lawyered. Too many lawsuits must be compared with too many fat people. That's the logic used by all organizations promoting tort reforms. If that logic applies to the business of lawyering then it also applies equally to the doctoring business being blamed for cancer as well as dietitians being blamed for people being fat.

We aren't over-lawyered; we are under-lawyered.

THE PROBLEM WITH TORT REFORM IS THE TYPE OF TROPHY YOU'RE HANDING OUT

Fact, losers want tort reform because they get to cause accidents and not have to pay. Tort reform takes away people's right to be compensated when someone else causes them to be injured. The right is taken away without holding those responsible for the injuries they cause.

Those responsible for causing accidents want a free ride through being told okay you caused an accident, but the person injured isn't getting paid their damages, here is your participation trophy.

Give them tort reform and you hand out participation trophies to those who don't want to work at winning the safety game. Hand out participation trophies and more losers join the team of being irresponsible.

You see logically it makes no sense: lawyers didn't create the accident or the injury. The lawyers and legal profession didn't make all the accidents happen any more than the doctors caused cancer in their patients or the dietitians caused clients to be obese. The lawyers simply are left to deal with a client's legal problems caused by injuries. The lawyer's job is to use the legal system to deal with the economic consequences of an accident that leads to an injury. If there are too many personal injury lawsuits ask what the causes of too many accidents and injuries are.

…the question is why are there so many accidents causing injury.

We aren't over-lawyered; we are under-lawyered. We wouldn't have so many personal injury lawsuits if we didn't have so many injured people. The question isn't why are there so many lawsuits or lawyers; the question is why are there so many accidents causing injury. Ask the right questions and you'll get better answers. Until you do all you'll get are more personal injury lawsuits being litigated by more personal injury lawyers because irresponsible people who cause accidents will have nothing to fear about being held accountable. If you try to take away the right to be compensated without reducing the number of events that cause injury, then you end up with the need for more and more lawyers.

PERSONAL INJURY LAW FACTS

Fact of the matter is there are too many lawsuits for societies liking.

Fact, there are too many accidents causing too many injuries.

Fact, there aren't too many personal injury lawsuits as compared to personal injury accidents.

Fact, there are too few personal injury lawsuits as compared to personal injury accidents causing serious injury; because many injured people believe the propaganda about there being too many personal injury lawsuits.

Fact, there aren't enough good seasoned personal injury lawyers for all the people that need one.

Fact, there is too much money wasted trying to convince people there are too many personal injury lawsuits.

Fact, there isn't enough emphasis on preventing personal injury accidents.

Fact, there is too much money spent on cell phones and other digital distractions that cause teenaged drivers to crash.

Fact, take cell phones away from drivers and you'll have fewer personal injury accidents.

Fact, manufacture better products and you'll have fewer personal injuries.

Fact, there are too many false claims being filed against Medicare and Medicaid.

Fact, there are too many verdicts that paid too little as compared to the injuries people suffered.

Fact, non-economic damages are economic in nature.

Fact, there isn't a need for medical legal tort reform.

Fact, there is a need for medical reforms and oversight having to do with wasting tax dollars for brick and mortar projects.

Fact, medical insurance premiums are too high.

Fact, there are too many people killed by drunk drivers.

Fact, there are too many rear end collisions and wrong-way accidents.

Fact, there are too many distractions in the driver's seat.

Fact, there are too many wrong-site, wrong-side, wrong-patient and wrong-procedures during surgery.

Fact, doctors aren't getting enough of the economic pie; because hospital systems and insurers aren't being fair with how hard doctors are working versus how much they are compensated.

Fact, most doctors are overworked.

Fact, brick and mortar projects take priority over compensating doctors.

Fact, there are too many cases of fraud on Wall Street.

Fact, Wall Street pays out frivolous bonuses all the time.

Fact, Wall Street CEO's are using corporations as clubs rather than as public companies whose benefits are to go to the shareholders.

Fact, today there is a greater need for more, not fewer, trial lawyers.

Fact, parents are at least partially responsible for the lack of character that wants something for nothing.

Fact, state lotteries are popular because to win gives you something you didn't earn.

Fact, participation trophies are a bad idea.

Fact, only losers want a participation trophy.

Fact, parents who want to hand out a participation trophy suffer from guilt associated with not spending enough time with their children.

Fact, children are learning they don't have to do anything to win; just show up.

Fact, we aren't developing character if we aren't losing.

Fact, losing is part of life.

Fact, winners are more likely to develop the necessary character to survive.

Fact, winners want to win a trophy.

Fact, only losers want a participation trophy. (Worth repeating.)

Fact, losers want tort reform that takes away people's rights without holding those responsible for the injuries they cause. Those responsible for causing accidents want a free ride through being told okay you caused an accident but the person injured isn't getting paid their damages, here is your participation trophy. Give them tort reform and you hand out participation trophies to those who don't want to work at winning the safety game. Hand out participation trophies and more losers join the team of being irresponsible.

Fact, reduce the number of drivers causing accidents that injure and you'll have fewer personal injury lawyers.

Tort reform is about how weak our society is becoming. It's a symptom of bad character development. It's a symptom, not a solution.

I rest my case.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Steve Lombardi

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on May 13, 2009 (boomark / email).