By Matt Hurley for the TIB Network:
This is just too funny... Release:Vice President Cheney, corporate front groups and their allies in Congress say the court system is filled with too many lawsuits even though nearly half of all lawsuits each year are filed by corporations suing other corporations.Pay close attention, idiots, the problem isn't that our courts are backed up, it's that frivolous lawsuits are driving up medical malpractice insurance rates. I don't think there is anybody getting hacked off about settling accounts via the courts (except maybe the party that is found to be at fault). The quantity isn't the problem, it is the result of these lawsuits that are in question.
A HalliburtonWatch.org survey of court actions filed by Halliburton and its subsidiaries between 1995 and 2000 -- the period when Cheney was CEO of the company -- found that Halliburton was involved in 151 court claims it filed in 15 states around the nation. On average, Halliburton petitioned America's legal system 30 times per year while Cheney was CEO. In filing these court actions, Halliburton was seeking everything from injunctions and evictions to payments of debt.
Most of Halliburton's court actions were filed against other corporations, with only 24 of the 151 claims filed against individuals. Thirty-three of the claims (or 22 percent) were filed by Halliburton's subsidiary, Dresser Industries, against insurance companies. Although Halliburton earns billions in revenues each year, it sued people or corporations in small claims court for as little as $1,500. It sued 15 debtors for less than $10,000 each, 24 debtors for less than $15,000 each and 40 debtors for less than $100,000 each.
Vice president Cheney says he believes the number of personal injury lawsuits has skyrocketed over the years and is supporting tort reform legislation designed to stop it. But studies have shown that the number of those lawsuits is actually declining. Between 1993 and 2002, personal injury lawsuits declined by 5 percent while lawsuits based on contract disputes increased by 21 percent. Moreover, the number of lawsuits involving contract disputes between corporations is ten times the number of lawsuits filed by injured consumers in products liability and medical malpractice actions. Studies also show that doctor mistakes kill more people each year than auto accidents, breast cancer or AIDS -- an indication that doctors, not lawyers, are most responsible for lawsuits filed against them.
I suppose I should start HEINZwatch.org just for, you know, balance or something. How silly these fools are...
Insta-Update
Oh, I'm not saying that doctors who screw up should get a pass. And neither is the President. Hence the terminology "frivolous" which means:1. Unworthy of serious attention; triviaThere IS a difference.
2. Inappropriately silly
4:35 PM Update
Another release, this one from the House Judiciary Committee:The House today by a 229-to-174 margin approved legislation cracking down on frivolous lawsuits by mandating sanctions against personal injury lawyers who file meritless claims. H.R. 4571, the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act (LARA), was introduced by Rep. Lamar S. Smith (R- Tex.) and now heads to the Senate for consideration.The key word is "meritless", hence my adding the emphasis. Nobody is out to rob people of their right to sue a doctor who committed malpractice.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-Wis.):
"Every year jobs are lost, prices are raised, and small businesses go out of business because of the cost of frivolous lawsuits. No part of American society rests easy in a legal culture of fear. Churches are discouraging counseling by ministers. Children have learned to threaten teachers with lawsuits. Youth sports are shutting down in the face of lawsuits for injuries and even hurt feelings. Monkey bars and other once common equipment are now endangered species at playgrounds. As a result, children stay home and get fat, and their parents sue the restaurants that serve them. The Girl Scouts in Metro Detroit alone have to sell 36,000 boxes of cookies each year just to pay for liability insurance.It's becoming clear to me now, these HALLIBURTON! fools are trying to make some Bu$Hitler connection to this law, which passed the House today by a 229-to-174 margin:
"Because existing rules against frivolous lawsuits are ineffective, the right to sue has not only been exploited by lawyers, it's been turned into one of the most destructive business models in the American economy. Today, personal injury lawyers can gamble on taking cases on a contingency fee basis because they need only win 1 in 10 to score the big judgment that will make up for the losses in other cases. And we all live with the consequences, including higher taxes and insurance rates, chaos in our schools, and doctors going out of business, limiting Americans' access to health care. Small businesses and workers may suffer most."
The Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act has four provisions:Can't the politicans accomplish anything during an election year? Or do they have to resort to meeting about athletics rules in the Consitution Committee?
1) it establishes mandatory sanctions for filing frivolous lawsuits in violation of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure;
2) it abolishes Rule 11's current "free pass" provision which allows lawyers to avoid sanctions for making frivolous claims by simply withdrawing frivolous claims within 21 days after a motion for sanctions has been filed;
3) it prevents forum-shopping of cases by requiring that personal injury cases be brought only where the plaintiff resides, where the plaintiff was allegedly injured, or where the defendant's principal place of business is located; and
4) a "3 Strikes and You're Out" provision that mandates a 1-year suspension of a law license to practice in a federal court after a lawyer has filed 3 or more frivolous lawsuits in the same federal court.
