Posted On: January 31, 2005, 12:49 pm CST

Posted By: Bill Reid

If personal injury lawyers weren't so pathetic they'd be funny. Here's a bunch of opportunists who mine injured people, exaggerated their damages, and belly up to the insurance trough for their contingent fee. They contribute nothing, risk nothing, and benefit from others. Blatant malpractice should be dealt with criminally, not just economically. A professional review board should hear alleged malpractice cases and render a decision, not a lay jury. Doctors deserve a jury of their peers, not sympathetic members of the public who continue to believe that "someone must pay".

$75 a year to an attorney, regardless of how incompetent, is little more than a lunch tab. Suddenly they're squeeling like stuck pigs when faced with having to "pay to play". I have two suggestions. First, $75. is a ridiculously small sum. I'd propose a 3% surcharge on all attorney earnings from medical malpractice settlements. This would amount to only a fraction of what the average doctor is forced to pay to protect themselves from these people. Second, I'd suggest doctors stop treating personal injury attorneys. Why help people who are out to destroy you for their own personal gain.

Of course we shouldn't delude ourselves into thinking the state legislature will do the right thing. How many of them are attorneys?