I got a letter in the mail last year saying that I\’m included in a class action suit against an insurance company I used to work with. I get peanuts; the lawyers get millions.
How about Lowlife Attorneys Under the Guise of Helping? They could be known as \”LAUGH\”! At least defense attorneys probably have a little more to be proud of.
How about \”Continental Association of Claimants Attorneys\”, or \”CACA\” for short?? Would also work very well for California, Colorado, Connecticutt, Kansas and Kentucky.
Do you folks have anything constructive to contribute to the debate, or are you all simply interested in searching for vapid, pithy acronyms?
Real people with real injuries caused by real negligence are the ones hurt by your efforts to reduce access to our courts. Vapid comments attempting to be pithy responses merely demonstrate the prejudice with which you prosecute your agenda to eliminate our civil justice system, which itself is the result of hundreds of years of studied judgment and precedent.
We trust juries to determine the question of life and death. Why do you have a problem with juries determining what is fair and reasonable compensation for a victim of negligence?
I have been in the insurance industry for
17 years. I have never seen any good come
out of the frivolous lawsuits i.e. slip
and falls. The planet is a hazardous place.
Take responsibility for your own actions. Do not place the blame on somebody else. How perfect is the property you own?
If the ATLA is really for justice, why are they so afraid of the LOOSER PAY RULE?
It in NO WAY takes away an individuals
right to sue. We are the ONLY civilized
country in the world that does not have this. WHY? Because who writes the laws and
who interprets them – LAWYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also, unless your Amish, you can not aford
to be with out insurance.
How come the legal industry is not attacked
like other professions as it pertains to
the fees charged??? I.e. Mr. Attorney you
can not charge $300 per hour for that service. You are only approved for $40.
They tell doctors who go to school for
10 years what to charge. Yet 3 years of law school and you receive the right to screw your neighbor. Where are the ethics??? We have a lot of great attorneys
in this country but we need to weed out
and stop the slugs from making a living
off their neighbor.
Andrew – most do not have a problem with \”real people with real injuries\” having their day in court before a jury of their peers. The problem is when lawyers manufacture a problem into a class action and take millions for themselves and leave the \”real people with perceived injuries\” pennies. There\’s also a problem with people passing the responsibility of their own stupid actions (most famously spilling coffee on themselves) to a company with deep pockets.
People resent those they depend on most. It is human nature. It\’s the thing that makes kids move out of the house. In most cases that is a good thing. It encourages independence of the next generation.
The attornies resent and hate the insurance companies most, because without the deep pockets there is nothing to pick. They cannot be independent. For the most part is the ethics of convenience.
The ATLA should change its name to the American Association for Just Us. ATLA has and always will be famous for redistributing wealth. Some things never change.
The ATLA should change its name to the American Association for Just Us. ATLA has and always will be famous for redistributing wealth. Some things never change.
Good job Ned. Andrew appears to be one of those self impressed attorneys that is in it just for the deep pockets. \”Real people with real injuries\” are the ones most companies are trying to help. Besides, haven\’t attorneys been around longer than insurance companies? Just look at what they have done to screw up the world.
Mr. Diesel: Bitter much? I wrote an article on the merits of Loser Pays 5-6 years ago. It appeared in TRIAL magazine. The problem with \”loser pays\” is that it disenfranchises the poor (economically) plaintiff. This plaintiff will be intimidated by this rule, and will fail to come forward to seek justice.
This is not because the case must be frivolous, rather it is because juries are unpredictable (regardless of what jury consultants want you to believe). There is already a hefty financial responsibility on plaintiffs: they are legally responsible for ALL of the expenses of their case. This includes everything from filing fees all the way up to the fees for experts (like DOCTORS, who charge $10,000 for a day in court–more in some circumstances). Complex product liability cases can cost as much as $100,000 or more to run. The cost is largely defense driven.
There IS a Federal Rule mandating loser pays. It works quite well, having at is base the notion of settlement.
As for contingency fees, well, we work for 3-5 years footing the bill for all the expenses out of our own pocket (that we theoretically get back from a losing client at the end of a case–this never happens, by the way, which is a disincentive to taking non-meritorious cases.
I have plenty more to write, just no time. There goes another ambulance I missed. Damn.
I\’ m proud to be a claimant\’s trial lawyer for over 30 years. I offer no apologies for my societal role in helping greviously injured people recover financially when others attempt to escape responsibility and accountability for their reckless and, at times, deceptive actions.
Shakespear\’s \”kill all the lawyers,\” is quoted and understood out of context. In context, it means to quash opposition, silence the people by silencing their advocates, succeed by eliminating all challenge. It is a facist, totalitarion ideology.
Those that have offered desparaging comments are either mesmerized or ignorant. Perhaps, they have been Bushwacked by big business, big oil, big insurance and protective political administrations that cry trial lawyer as they take the citizens\’ right away—the very people who, here, denigrate their true allie, trial attorneys. Just wait til you need one of us.
Oh, and finally, truth in advertising? Take another look at the name of the organization critisizing our name change. Are you brainwashed, tunnel visioned, or just stupid? Branding is a politically motivated reality—like it or not.
Your holier than thou attitude is scary if truly believed. Just as the German people started to believe the rhetoric they were fed by the third reich you probably really beleive the nonsense you spout off.
The fact is that the current legal system in our country has greatly affected all US citizens from a cost and behavior standpoint. Litigation toward schools has greatly affected discipline and the overall learning enviroment for our children.
Frivolous lawsuits that remove any sort of personal responsibility regarding food, alcohol, reckless behavior and actions have become nothing more than a lottery system with trial lawyers being the primary benificiary.
Your nonsense on addressing oil companies and insurance companies is also illogical. Insurance companies would not sell half of the insurance products / pricing they sell if not for the ever present fear of litigation. Big oil would not be insulated from supply/demand equations if enormous portions of the US were not off limits due to enviromental litigation that is pervasive on any natural resource project.
You are a parasite that has largely outlived it\’s usefulness. Just as labor unions were vitally important to protect workers in the early years of industry lawyers were needed to address many of societal issues. Now that many of these issues are addressed and information flows so freely many lawyers are redundant and create false profit for themselves at the expense of all US citizens. Our children will live at a much lower standard of living than we did because of your parasitical behavior.
Spare all of us your self righteous indignation and go back to conjuring up schemes to bilk money out of any party you can find that has some deep pockets; without regard to the actual level of culpability.
You hide behind a pseudoname in expousing you maligned, misguided hatred of a profession obliged to defend those, seemingly and to your good fortune unlike you, that are victimized by Corporate America.
Your time may come. You, like other ranting anti-lawyers will be singing a different tune indeed. But for now, I wish you freedom from that need ;and ,freedom to gleefully and delusionally follow your Pied Piper path.
No more wasted time posting replies here, I need to chase that ambulance. It\’s how I stay in shape.
Actually, like most Americans, I have been \”victimized\” by corporate America numerous times. 3 layoffs and 2 firings along with many years of sbustandard raises while the execs get obscene bonuses and options are pretty much the norm for any 35 year employee in many industries. Last I checked I had the freedom to choose other careers and options.
However, I don\’t look for lotteries and enrichment from the system. Just like losing a ball game you work to prepare and do better the next time.
The cost of a lawsuit in lost freedoms and dependence on governement and others is much greater than the capital you extort from eveyone. While you may find it possible to hide your kids in private schools or live in areas with a great public school system a great portion of the US population does not enjoy this luxury. While you may live well your children will either lack the competitive skills necessary to function in a capitalistic society or be unable to find other workers that can support them in this endeavor. This will not be the case in China, South /Central America or Asia. Your short term gains in setting ungrounded and biased legal precedents cause inestimable daamge to future generations of Americans.
You have the right in America to be a blood sucking leach. Just get the backbone to label yourself what you really are instead of cloaking yourself as some great \”robin hood\” protector of the masses. You would probably find that some Amercians would respect you more if you labeled yourself as a parasite versus \”American Association for Justice\”.
Wait till you get injured on the job and have to file a workers\’ compensation claim. Then, you\’ll see how the company and the state laws \”help\” the injured worker. Why don\’t you ask your actuary and economist counterparts to disclose the true effect of litigation on insurance rates and our economy. I an certain your anti-\”trial lawyer\” rhetoric would be dispelled by the truth in the numbers. Or don\’t you believe in statistics, either? Keep up the intellegent discussion. It\’s amuzing. Glad not to be part of your club.
I guess you\’d be happier not knowing that your insurance company stole money out of your pocket. I\’d prefer a system where corporations who steal are charged criminally for their actions, but if civil liability is all I can hope for, I\’ll take it.
I was a beneficiary in a class action against a brokerage company who charged excessive fees for mutual funds. My father made the investment and I was the beneficiary of the account. I ended up getting a check for over $700. That may not be much money to you, but it sure was to me. Think about how many other people were cheated out of $700 or more and that really makes me angry.
We should simply do away with the archaic concept of holding one liable for negligence. Injured because someone else simply didn\’t give a ****? Too bad. Take responsibility for pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps (like Pancho Villa) and stop your whining. Trial lawyers would become extinct overnight. An added benefit; every liability policy (auto, workers comp, general, etc.) would simultaneously become useless, and we could all cancel our policies tomorrow. Think of the savings!
oc – I assume that was sarcasm. However you do have a bit of good advice – pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. If you were injured due to someone else\’s negligence, you may be entitled to some compensation. But if you\’re injured due to your own stupidity, take responsibility and don\’t look for a scapegoat to sue.
And when someone is legitimately to blame, please be reasonable about the compensation – don\’t ask for $100 million for the pain and suffering related to your broken toe.
While I don\’t agree with the venomous tone of Pancho and I certainly don\’t care for the pithy attitude of the ambulance chaser Glass I did think about the underlying message in the thread.
It occurs to me that as the ATLA has become much stronger and influential the quality of life for the majority of working Amercians has become much, much worse. They truly are paraisites in that no one really benefits except for a small minority of Americans. This includes lawyers, insurance companies and all of the others that benefit from a system that focuses on litigation prevention more than productivity and innovation.
It also occurs to me that if any group of individuals had power in congress as long as the lawyers have they would all make self serving laws that benefit their group over all others. This would include janitors, construction workers, salesman or even clergy or teachers. The lawyers just employ much more subterfruge in the the application of serving there own selfing needs.
The sad part goes back to Ronald Reagan\’s famous question \”are we better off today than we were\”. All but the self serving lawyers that rule this county would say NO.
They are too selfish and short sighted to realize they are killing the very country that enables them to live at a level way above what they should but this short term bounty will result in a much lower level of living for thier kids and grandkids.
Where\’s justice for these folks?
I got a letter in the mail last year saying that I\’m included in a class action suit against an insurance company I used to work with. I get peanuts; the lawyers get millions.
That\’s justice?
Oh please.
How about \”Scumbags For Their Own Self Interest\”.
Well, they say you can put a pig in a dress and call it a lady, but it is still a pig!
How about Lowlife Attorneys Under the Guise of Helping? They could be known as \”LAUGH\”! At least defense attorneys probably have a little more to be proud of.
Given the recent popularity of the comic book hero movies why not,”The Justice League”?
These people wouldn\’t know justice if it came up and bit them in the ***.
Gene\’s right. Whenever I see that name I will also see matching leotards with their underwear on the outside.
How about \”Continental Association of Claimants Attorneys\”, or \”CACA\” for short?? Would also work very well for California, Colorado, Connecticutt, Kansas and Kentucky.
Do you folks have anything constructive to contribute to the debate, or are you all simply interested in searching for vapid, pithy acronyms?
Real people with real injuries caused by real negligence are the ones hurt by your efforts to reduce access to our courts. Vapid comments attempting to be pithy responses merely demonstrate the prejudice with which you prosecute your agenda to eliminate our civil justice system, which itself is the result of hundreds of years of studied judgment and precedent.
We trust juries to determine the question of life and death. Why do you have a problem with juries determining what is fair and reasonable compensation for a victim of negligence?
And I prefer real names to fake ones.
I like the caca-colored coat idea.
Well Andrew the weekend is now over so hopefully you have enjoyed your ride on your high horse.
What a pious bunch of money grubbers! So they changed their name? Ambulance chasing by any other name is just as grubby.
AHEM. Let\’s not forget the reputation the insurance industry has with the American public… You\’re all a bunch of greedy dirtbags.
I have been in the insurance industry for
17 years. I have never seen any good come
out of the frivolous lawsuits i.e. slip
and falls. The planet is a hazardous place.
Take responsibility for your own actions. Do not place the blame on somebody else. How perfect is the property you own?
If the ATLA is really for justice, why are they so afraid of the LOOSER PAY RULE?
It in NO WAY takes away an individuals
right to sue. We are the ONLY civilized
country in the world that does not have this. WHY? Because who writes the laws and
who interprets them – LAWYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also, unless your Amish, you can not aford
to be with out insurance.
How come the legal industry is not attacked
like other professions as it pertains to
the fees charged??? I.e. Mr. Attorney you
can not charge $300 per hour for that service. You are only approved for $40.
They tell doctors who go to school for
10 years what to charge. Yet 3 years of law school and you receive the right to screw your neighbor. Where are the ethics??? We have a lot of great attorneys
in this country but we need to weed out
and stop the slugs from making a living
off their neighbor.
Andrew – most do not have a problem with \”real people with real injuries\” having their day in court before a jury of their peers. The problem is when lawyers manufacture a problem into a class action and take millions for themselves and leave the \”real people with perceived injuries\” pennies. There\’s also a problem with people passing the responsibility of their own stupid actions (most famously spilling coffee on themselves) to a company with deep pockets.
People resent those they depend on most. It is human nature. It\’s the thing that makes kids move out of the house. In most cases that is a good thing. It encourages independence of the next generation.
The attornies resent and hate the insurance companies most, because without the deep pockets there is nothing to pick. They cannot be independent. For the most part is the ethics of convenience.
This was going to happen at last years annual meeting but there was a traffic accident outside the hotel and they would not get a quorum for the vote.
The ATLA should change its name to the American Association for Just Us. ATLA has and always will be famous for redistributing wealth. Some things never change.
The ATLA should change its name to the American Association for Just Us. ATLA has and always will be famous for redistributing wealth. Some things never change.
Good job Ned. Andrew appears to be one of those self impressed attorneys that is in it just for the deep pockets. \”Real people with real injuries\” are the ones most companies are trying to help. Besides, haven\’t attorneys been around longer than insurance companies? Just look at what they have done to screw up the world.
This would make a great name for this organization.
They could develop a nice gold an brown pin to be worn proudly in the courtroom when they are protecting the american public\’s interest!
Mr. Diesel: Bitter much? I wrote an article on the merits of Loser Pays 5-6 years ago. It appeared in TRIAL magazine. The problem with \”loser pays\” is that it disenfranchises the poor (economically) plaintiff. This plaintiff will be intimidated by this rule, and will fail to come forward to seek justice.
This is not because the case must be frivolous, rather it is because juries are unpredictable (regardless of what jury consultants want you to believe). There is already a hefty financial responsibility on plaintiffs: they are legally responsible for ALL of the expenses of their case. This includes everything from filing fees all the way up to the fees for experts (like DOCTORS, who charge $10,000 for a day in court–more in some circumstances). Complex product liability cases can cost as much as $100,000 or more to run. The cost is largely defense driven.
There IS a Federal Rule mandating loser pays. It works quite well, having at is base the notion of settlement.
As for contingency fees, well, we work for 3-5 years footing the bill for all the expenses out of our own pocket (that we theoretically get back from a losing client at the end of a case–this never happens, by the way, which is a disincentive to taking non-meritorious cases.
I have plenty more to write, just no time. There goes another ambulance I missed. Damn.
Opening lecture…..\”Let me dispel this untruth first of all…Right and Wrong have nothing to do with the Law.\”
I\’ m proud to be a claimant\’s trial lawyer for over 30 years. I offer no apologies for my societal role in helping greviously injured people recover financially when others attempt to escape responsibility and accountability for their reckless and, at times, deceptive actions.
Shakespear\’s \”kill all the lawyers,\” is quoted and understood out of context. In context, it means to quash opposition, silence the people by silencing their advocates, succeed by eliminating all challenge. It is a facist, totalitarion ideology.
Those that have offered desparaging comments are either mesmerized or ignorant. Perhaps, they have been Bushwacked by big business, big oil, big insurance and protective political administrations that cry trial lawyer as they take the citizens\’ right away—the very people who, here, denigrate their true allie, trial attorneys. Just wait til you need one of us.
Oh, and finally, truth in advertising? Take another look at the name of the organization critisizing our name change. Are you brainwashed, tunnel visioned, or just stupid? Branding is a politically motivated reality—like it or not.
Your holier than thou attitude is scary if truly believed. Just as the German people started to believe the rhetoric they were fed by the third reich you probably really beleive the nonsense you spout off.
The fact is that the current legal system in our country has greatly affected all US citizens from a cost and behavior standpoint. Litigation toward schools has greatly affected discipline and the overall learning enviroment for our children.
Frivolous lawsuits that remove any sort of personal responsibility regarding food, alcohol, reckless behavior and actions have become nothing more than a lottery system with trial lawyers being the primary benificiary.
Your nonsense on addressing oil companies and insurance companies is also illogical. Insurance companies would not sell half of the insurance products / pricing they sell if not for the ever present fear of litigation. Big oil would not be insulated from supply/demand equations if enormous portions of the US were not off limits due to enviromental litigation that is pervasive on any natural resource project.
You are a parasite that has largely outlived it\’s usefulness. Just as labor unions were vitally important to protect workers in the early years of industry lawyers were needed to address many of societal issues. Now that many of these issues are addressed and information flows so freely many lawyers are redundant and create false profit for themselves at the expense of all US citizens. Our children will live at a much lower standard of living than we did because of your parasitical behavior.
Spare all of us your self righteous indignation and go back to conjuring up schemes to bilk money out of any party you can find that has some deep pockets; without regard to the actual level of culpability.
HEAR HEAR!
\”Pancho Villa\” says it all, doesn\’t it?
You hide behind a pseudoname in expousing you maligned, misguided hatred of a profession obliged to defend those, seemingly and to your good fortune unlike you, that are victimized by Corporate America.
Your time may come. You, like other ranting anti-lawyers will be singing a different tune indeed. But for now, I wish you freedom from that need ;and ,freedom to gleefully and delusionally follow your Pied Piper path.
No more wasted time posting replies here, I need to chase that ambulance. It\’s how I stay in shape.
Actually, like most Americans, I have been \”victimized\” by corporate America numerous times. 3 layoffs and 2 firings along with many years of sbustandard raises while the execs get obscene bonuses and options are pretty much the norm for any 35 year employee in many industries. Last I checked I had the freedom to choose other careers and options.
However, I don\’t look for lotteries and enrichment from the system. Just like losing a ball game you work to prepare and do better the next time.
The cost of a lawsuit in lost freedoms and dependence on governement and others is much greater than the capital you extort from eveyone. While you may find it possible to hide your kids in private schools or live in areas with a great public school system a great portion of the US population does not enjoy this luxury. While you may live well your children will either lack the competitive skills necessary to function in a capitalistic society or be unable to find other workers that can support them in this endeavor. This will not be the case in China, South /Central America or Asia. Your short term gains in setting ungrounded and biased legal precedents cause inestimable daamge to future generations of Americans.
You have the right in America to be a blood sucking leach. Just get the backbone to label yourself what you really are instead of cloaking yourself as some great \”robin hood\” protector of the masses. You would probably find that some Amercians would respect you more if you labeled yourself as a parasite versus \”American Association for Justice\”.
Wait till you get injured on the job and have to file a workers\’ compensation claim. Then, you\’ll see how the company and the state laws \”help\” the injured worker. Why don\’t you ask your actuary and economist counterparts to disclose the true effect of litigation on insurance rates and our economy. I an certain your anti-\”trial lawyer\” rhetoric would be dispelled by the truth in the numbers. Or don\’t you believe in statistics, either? Keep up the intellegent discussion. It\’s amuzing. Glad not to be part of your club.
I guess you\’d be happier not knowing that your insurance company stole money out of your pocket. I\’d prefer a system where corporations who steal are charged criminally for their actions, but if civil liability is all I can hope for, I\’ll take it.
I was a beneficiary in a class action against a brokerage company who charged excessive fees for mutual funds. My father made the investment and I was the beneficiary of the account. I ended up getting a check for over $700. That may not be much money to you, but it sure was to me. Think about how many other people were cheated out of $700 or more and that really makes me angry.
We should simply do away with the archaic concept of holding one liable for negligence. Injured because someone else simply didn\’t give a ****? Too bad. Take responsibility for pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps (like Pancho Villa) and stop your whining. Trial lawyers would become extinct overnight. An added benefit; every liability policy (auto, workers comp, general, etc.) would simultaneously become useless, and we could all cancel our policies tomorrow. Think of the savings!
oc – I assume that was sarcasm. However you do have a bit of good advice – pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. If you were injured due to someone else\’s negligence, you may be entitled to some compensation. But if you\’re injured due to your own stupidity, take responsibility and don\’t look for a scapegoat to sue.
And when someone is legitimately to blame, please be reasonable about the compensation – don\’t ask for $100 million for the pain and suffering related to your broken toe.
http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/JohnStossel/2006/08/02/the_trial_lawyers_justice_myth
While I don\’t agree with the venomous tone of Pancho and I certainly don\’t care for the pithy attitude of the ambulance chaser Glass I did think about the underlying message in the thread.
It occurs to me that as the ATLA has become much stronger and influential the quality of life for the majority of working Amercians has become much, much worse. They truly are paraisites in that no one really benefits except for a small minority of Americans. This includes lawyers, insurance companies and all of the others that benefit from a system that focuses on litigation prevention more than productivity and innovation.
It also occurs to me that if any group of individuals had power in congress as long as the lawyers have they would all make self serving laws that benefit their group over all others. This would include janitors, construction workers, salesman or even clergy or teachers. The lawyers just employ much more subterfruge in the the application of serving there own selfing needs.
The sad part goes back to Ronald Reagan\’s famous question \”are we better off today than we were\”. All but the self serving lawyers that rule this county would say NO.
They are too selfish and short sighted to realize they are killing the very country that enables them to live at a level way above what they should but this short term bounty will result in a much lower level of living for thier kids and grandkids.
The worst sort of treason.