{"id":4725,"date":"2004-02-19T21:57:53","date_gmt":"2004-02-20T01:57:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2004\/02\/19\/mommies-meanies-mud-and-manur"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:59:01","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:59:01","slug":"mommies-meanies-mud-and-manure-in-madison-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2004\/02\/19\/mommies-meanies-mud-and-manure-in-madison-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Mommies, Meanies, Mud and Manure in Madison County"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0 T<\/strong><\/em>wo newspaper articles and two weblog posts have roused skepticalEsq <\/em>from retirement (again) this week. According to the Alton (OH) Telegraph<\/em>, a group called Victims and Families United held a pro-lawyer, pro-tort-suit rally<\/em> on Tuesday, at the Madison County, Ohio, courthouse. (See Rally supports rights of plaintiffs<\/a>, 02-17-04, <\/font>Victims say suits justified<\/font><\/a>, 2-18-04, by Sanford J. Schmidt) (with pointers from Evan Schaeffer, here<\/a> and there<\/a>)<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font>\u00a0<\/font><\/font> The Feb. 17 article quotes a VFU spokesman as saying: Their mission is to bring balance and fairness to the debate and protect access to the courts for victims and their families.” The Feb. 18 Telegraph <\/em>article notes that one of the organizers, Judy Buckles, is the widow of an asbestos-related cancer victim, and states:<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

The speakers addressed about 60 people gathered in the foyer of the Madison County Administration Building in downtown Edwardsville. The crowd included victims and their families and people who work at some of the plaintiffs\u2019 law firms.
\nBuckles said it is hard to pick up a newspaper or listen to television or radio these days without hearing criticism of the local courts. The publicity is generated by “tort reform” groups funded by big business, she said.<\/p>\n

“They want to make it more difficult for families to find justice,” she said.<\/em><\/font><\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n


\n<\/font>\"scales The ralliers are reacting to a spate of bad publicity about Madison County being the forum of choice for class action suits, and having more of them per capita than any county in the nation. ( See e.g., this <\/a>and this<\/a> and that<\/a> from Overlawyered.com<\/a>, and Evan’s response<\/a>.) I strongly support continued access for bona fide<\/em> tort victims, while bemoaning both damage awards and contingent fees that are unreasonably high. I also support two of the goals mentioned by Buckles (and I know Overlawyered’s Walter Olsen does, too):<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n
  1. Pushing for reforms aimed at driving bad doctors out while keeping good doctors in practice.<\/font><\/li>\n
  2. Weeding out bad lawyers and bar them from filing bad lawsuits. <\/font><\/li>\n

    <\/font><\/ol>\n

    I also think the “Sorry Works” program supported by VFU (in which hospitals that make mistakes would apologize for them and provide a settlement offer upfront) is worth a try, so long as<\/em> the lawyer’s fee is significantly <\/em>reduced when there is such a quick settlement. <\/font><\/font>
    \n<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n


    \n<\/font>But, I think you can understand why skepticalEsq<\/em> might be a little, well, skeptical of the “grassroots” nature of the group. The group and rally might indeed be “    grassroots<\/a>” in the narrow sense of being at a local level, but it’s hard to believe that they came into existence spontaneously<\/a> or sua sponte <\/a>under the auspices of the victims and their families. More likely, the grass got fed some fertilzer. Note the newspaper account that the rather small crowd of about 60 “included victims and their families and people who work at some of the plaintiffs\u2019 law firms<\/strong>.” (emphasis added) No break-down given. <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

    <\/font><\/p>\n