Other Side of Tort Reform: Alabama Woman Hurt By Award Cap
Southeast News • August 29, 2006
Swollen and limp, Trudy Roy's left arm hangs dead at her side. With its nerves shredded beyond repair, the limb is little but a source of pain for the 68-year-old former librarian, a constant ...
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Subject: What if it was you?
Posted On: August 30, 2006, 5:20 pm CDT
Posted By: Richard M. Shapiro
Comment:
I know how well trial lawyers have been villified;I am one, proudly so. I don't advertise. I am not a wealthy man, as most believe. I became a lawyer to help others, not to fill my pockets. My clients come to me by word of mouth, from other lawyers, and,yes, sometimes even from physicians.
These severely wounded people, often young children are crippled, blinded, or often paralyzed by another's carelessness.
Why is there a battle-cry for caps, when all empirical evidence shows that there is
NO correllation between caps and insurance premiums? Others, many of whom are in the insurance business, have been spinning anecdotal nonsense for decades that the outrageous insurance premiums we all pay are somehow connected to runaway juries, comprised of everyday people like you who hear the evidence and decide the fate of others. It will never be a perfect system, because it is comprised of humans, but noone has yet to devise a fairer, more even-handed way of determining fault and the amount of money damages for injuries just like this poor woman, who asked for nothing more than safe passage across the street by a policeman charged with her reasonable safe passage.
Who would change shoes with this poor soul for any sum of money? When will we all learn that these things don't just happen to strangers, it happens to you and your loved ones?
Compensation for economic damages would pay her medical expenses only. Does she have a right to just compensation for her loss of enjoyment of life, pain and suffering. I grow weary at the loss of compassion I see in others who think this will never happen to me or my loved ones. DO you care about your neighbor? Do something to prove it. I can earn a living doing many other types of law. I chose personal injury law to help others. Those of you who are skeptics may believe as you wish. Think about your child tonight and kiss them; tell them you love them each and every night. Pray to God that something so awful as what befell this lovely woman never happens to them. Seek the truth, not the myths promulgated by the rich and powerful. Caps have led to unmentionable consequences for some even worse than this innocent person. Even in the days of old English Common Law, the king could waive his immunity if he chose to. Ultimately, you and I, as taxpayers will shoulder the financial consequences of her medical care, at best. What if she should lose her leg? What is the value of a lost limb? It's cost in bone, blood, and meat? Think as we were meant to, to help others. It is the best of what man can do.
Subject: What if it was you?
These severely wounded people, often young children are crippled, blinded, or often paralyzed by another's carelessness.
Why is there a battle-cry for caps, when all empirical evidence shows that there is
NO correllation between caps and insurance premiums? Others, many of whom are in the insurance business, have been spinning anecdotal nonsense for decades that the outrageous insurance premiums we all pay are somehow connected to runaway juries, comprised of everyday people like you who hear the evidence and decide the fate of others. It will never be a perfect system, because it is comprised of humans, but noone has yet to devise a fairer, more even-handed way of determining fault and the amount of money damages for injuries just like this poor woman, who asked for nothing more than safe passage across the street by a policeman charged with her reasonable safe passage.
Who would change shoes with this poor soul for any sum of money? When will we all learn that these things don't just happen to strangers, it happens to you and your loved ones?
Compensation for economic damages would pay her medical expenses only. Does she have a right to just compensation for her loss of enjoyment of life, pain and suffering. I grow weary at the loss of compassion I see in others who think this will never happen to me or my loved ones. DO you care about your neighbor? Do something to prove it. I can earn a living doing many other types of law. I chose personal injury law to help others. Those of you who are skeptics may believe as you wish. Think about your child tonight and kiss them; tell them you love them each and every night. Pray to God that something so awful as what befell this lovely woman never happens to them. Seek the truth, not the myths promulgated by the rich and powerful. Caps have led to unmentionable consequences for some even worse than this innocent person. Even in the days of old English Common Law, the king could waive his immunity if he chose to. Ultimately, you and I, as taxpayers will shoulder the financial consequences of her medical care, at best. What if she should lose her leg? What is the value of a lost limb? It's cost in bone, blood, and meat? Think as we were meant to, to help others. It is the best of what man can do.