I t was said back in the days of ping-pong diplomacy that only President Richard Nixon could go to Red China, thanks to his credibility borne of long years as an ardent foe of world communism. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat majority in Congress have a similar opportunity now by supporting genuine lawsuit abuse reform and bringing the trial lawyers bar back to reality.
That there is a crying need for lawsuit abuse reform is beyond question. As The Examiner?s Micah Morrison detailed with his reporting last week, there is substantial evidence of widespread abuse and even fraud at the highest levels of the trial lawyers bar. The costs to consumers and taxpayersare enormous, as the American Tort Reform Association estimates:
» The cost of the U.S. tort system for 2003 was $246 billion, or $845 per citizen or $3,380 for a family of four.
» U.S. tort costs increased 35.4 percent from 2000 to 2003.
» The growth of U.S. tort costs have exceeded the nation?s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2-3 percentage points in the past 50 years.
» The U.S. tort system is inefficient; it returns less than 50 cents on the dollar and less than 22 cents for actual economic loss to claimants.
Clearly, trial lawyers for too long have grown rich by using forum shopping, friends on the judicial bench and, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, fraudulent expert witnesses to make the mere prospect of litigation so costly that even Fortune 500 firms find it cheaper to settle than to seek their day in court.
The judicial system is thus seriously warped against providing justice for businesses and the consumers they serve.
These same trial lawyers have sent millions of dollars of political contributions flowing into the pockets of Members of Congress, presidential candidates and candidates at state and local levels. The bulk of this filthy campaign lucre has gone to Democrats, especially in Congress.
According to OpenSecrets.org, 18 of the top 20 congressional recipients of these contributions are Democrats, including Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Rep. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. During the 2006 election cycle, nearly $65 million, or 71 percent, of all such contributions went to Democrats. The largest of these contributors, the American Trial Lawyers Association nee American Association for Justice, contributed $24 million from 1989 to 2004, virtually all to Democrats.
For years, most Democrats in Congress have been reliable protectors ofthe trial lawyers lobby. But these aren?t normal times and Speaker Pelosi appears to be ideally positioned to make the figurative trip to China on this issue. Trial lawyers are by a large margin Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid?s biggest group of supporters.
They are also Pelosi?s top group of contributors, but with a key difference: A much larger portion of her support comes from labor unions, health professionals, securities and investment firms, finance and commercial banks and insurance, groups whose interests often conflict the trial lawyers. Pelosi can show courage in supporting lawsuit abuse reform with minimal political risk.
Pelosi can show such courage by supporting new versions two key proposals from the previous Congress, starting with Rep. Lamar Smith?s Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act (LARA), which passed the House but was never voted on by the Senate. LARA enables judges to require plaintiffs filing frivolous suits to pay defendants? legal costs and it prevents the forum shopping that encourages the most costly litigation.
The second key proposal for Pelosi is Rep. Ric Keller?s Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act, the so-called “cheeseburger bill.” Many in the trial lawyers lobby see fast-food litigation as their next big payday.
The Keller bill would put an end to this much-hyped campaign that is mainly based on junk science and which would leave a bitter taste for hungry consumers if left unchecked.
