[BikerNYC]

Oh, please. Trial lawyers are utilizing laws that are currently in place. If anyone is to blame it's politicians who won't change the laws, judges who let cases go forward, and juries who actually award the damages. Trial lawyers are capitalists...they are using the current system to their best possible lawfuul advantage, just like any person in business would. Are corporate taxpayers "greedy" when they use every possible legal loophole to avoid paying as much taxes as they can?

[RichGuy]

The point of this article is not that what the lawyers are doing is illegal. It is rather to point out that what they are doing has a cost, and that the cost is born by the individual and not the companies that are sued. The tobacco case is a classic example. Tobacco companies signed up to the huge penalties and then immediately raised prices.

If articles such as this help to change either the practice of the juries or the writing of the laws, they will have served their purpose. We need to recognize that these cases impact each of us not just the company that is sued.

[reformed_democrat]

Trial lawyers are utilizing laws that are currently in place. If anyone is to blame it's politicians who won't change the laws, judges who let cases go forward, and juries who actually award the damages.

Actually, we could make a circular argument out of this --

The lawyers bring a worthless case to trial to set a precedent.

The judge, put in place by democrats, allows the trial to proceed.

The jury makes the award based on the principle that the corporation can afford it.

The lawyer makes a windfall profit, and donates to the DNC (in religious terms, a "tithe").

The DNC then works to place yet more democrat judges.

and voila! Here we are. In order to strike it rich in America, you don't need to work, you don't need to save, you don't need to win the lottery. You need to be the next victim of hot coffee or an icy sidewalk.

I agree with your argument that trial lawyers are capitalists. They are also the only unregulated industry in the country.

[D-fendr]

"Trial lawyers are utilizing laws that are currently in place. If anyone is to blame it's politicians who won't change the laws"

In Texas, and many other states I suspect, their the same. Not only won't they change them, they wrote them in the first place. Remember the Tobacco laws/lawsuit scam?

[Ditto]

Trial lawyers are capitalists....

They are supposed to be officers of the court, not business men. But for some reason, we hold business men to higher ethical standards than we do officers of the court.

[Oberon]

Oh, please. Trial lawyers are utilizing laws that are currently in place. If anyone is to blame it's politicians who won't change the laws, judges who let cases go forward, and juries who actually award the damages. Trial lawyers are capitalists...they are using the current system to their best possible lawfuul advantage, just like any person in business would. Are corporate taxpayers "greedy" when they use every possible legal loophole to avoid paying as much taxes as they can?

I might point out that judges are former lawyers, as are the majority of legislators. As if that wasn't enough, the trial lawyer lobby is notorious for its power, money, and access. As for juries, they're deliberately and routinely selected for stupidity during voir dire.

[ampat]

Spoken like a true lawyer

[pgyanke]

"Oh, please. Trial lawyers are utilizing laws that are currently in place. If anyone is to blame it's politicians who won't change the laws, judges who let cases go forward, and juries who actually award the damages."

---

It's worse than that. Lawyers aren't just opportunistic capitalists, they are the authors of their own largesse.

Politicians write the laws, yes... but who do you think they are?

Judges let the cases go forward, yes... but who do you think they are?

Juries award the damages, sure... but who do you think is hand-picking and hood-winking them?

Over 80% of our politicians were (or are) lawyers. Judges were (or are) lawyers... Laws are written in this country to be purposely obscure to allow public debate. The only profession who benefits financially from a public debate is the legal profession who must be hired to interpret the statutes.

If our politicians wanted to be direct they could learn a lesson from history... "Thou shalt not..." is a direct law. 5,000 pages of ways in which "thou couldst" is a boon to the lawyers.

It's the world's biggest graft.

[BJungNan]

Are corporate taxpayers "greedy" when they use every possible legal loophole to avoid paying as much taxes as they can?

Slight problem with your question. Companies don't pay taxes, they only collect them. Only people pay taxes, either directly to the government of reflected in the cost of goods and services they buy - and passed on by companies.

At least with taxation we get something.

Laywers, lawsuits and fear of lawsuits on the other hand, drive up costs. Twenty dollars of the cost of a $120 ladder is directly attributable to legal fees (source, Werner Company). Very little of that goes to bringing about a safer ladder unless you suggest that every frivilous ladder suit has led to improved safety.

You are correct that lawyers are mainly the brunt of what is wrong with the trial law system. But, there are plenty of examples where the scorn felt for lawyers is directly justified. They are not all just innocent capitalist as you suggest. Except for the shield on the wall that gives legitimacy to what they do, many are just like the extortist in less legal profressions - many every bit as cold and ruthless.

[litehaus]

"If anyone is to blame it's politicians who won't change the laws, judges who let cases go "

And what animals inhabit/constitute these worlds?(Politicians/judges)

[jeremiah]

Trial lawyers=judges=legislators=crooks. They write the laws, for themselves, with the final authority held by one of their own.