I have received a great deal of feedback from those of you who took issue with my post on lawyers. Please let me say that I know there are good lawyers out there; if you go back and read what I wrote, you'll see that I acknowledge that. In fact, I know some.
But I do not withdraw my first assumption: there are more worthless ambulance chasers than there are people who are interested in defending people's rights in the traditional sense. If you are an attorney and you wonder why I would make this assumption, then you have not spent enough time in non-law circles. A long look at a civilian's view of product liability cases over the last 20 years should tell you all you need to know. For extra credit, look at the lawyers who work for the RIAA.
If you are an attorney, the you need to spend a little more time policing your profession and a little less time complaining about those of us who attack it.
Posted by Matthew at September 2, 2006 02:56 PMTrackBack URL for this entry:
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Matt, the tone of this blog is disconcerting.
I know and have worked for personal injury attorneys, none of which has ever chased an ambulance. The real enemy in a personal injury suit is insurance companies. I have seen men and women who live below the poverty line languish in pain because thier insurance companies stopped paying for treatment they NEEDED...this when the insurance company clearly was obligated to cover the injuries, but just did not want to have to settle at a higher amount by having a huge backlog of past medical expenses (future medical expenses, because of their speculative nature, are easier for the insurance companies' defense attorneys to exploit).
It is a true victory of the insurance companies in this country that the PLAINTIFF'S attorneys are the parties that are so villified in these suits. And you are feeding right into that, Sir.
And people again ignore that the juries - people like you and me - are the ones that decide these "outlandish" damages awards...and then there are settlements that the insurance companies, I promise you, are happy to arrive at 99 times out of 100 (because they know they'll get soaked once their "avoid payment at any cost" conduct is brought before a jury).
I see we are at opposite sides for reasons very close to our hearts..and I would love to continue the discourse. God Bless.
Your friend,
Eddie