No this is not a lead in from Ed McMahon for Johnny Carson’s Carnac the Magnificent.
The more than 50,000 grassroots supporters of California CALA have been saying for years that the lawsuit system needs reform because it mainly supports the interests of lawyers rather than ordinary people.
How? By perpetuating a cycle through which personal injury lawyers financially benefit from bad laws that encourage lawsuit abuse, which are written by lawmakers whose campaigns are funded by…you guessed it…personal injury lawyers.
Case in point: Barbara Boxer is one of the few elected officials in California actively advocating for Prop 46. Why is that? This is a state law – not a federal one.
Well, it ends up her husband is a founding partner of a medical malpractice law firm in the Bay Area. (His name is ON the firm.) It’s not much of a stretch to think that a law that will encourage more lawsuits to get filed and increase payouts from those lawsuits – and therefore increase the fees paid to lawyers – will personally benefit Mr. (and therefore, Senator) Boxer.
Furthermore, over the course of her career, lawyers and law firms have been the single biggest contributors to Barbara Boxer’s campaign funds. Her fifth largest campaign contributor, law firm Girardi Keese brags on its website that it “works closely” with legislators to change laws – including blatantly saying it works to “undo” the medical malpractice cap that is at the core of Prop 46.
This disturbing trend does not start or stop with Senator Boxer, however. Tom Girardi was also the first trial lawyer to be appointed to the Judicial Council of California, the policy-making body for the state courts. Currently, Mark Robinson, another leading trial lawyer is on the Council, and his firm (Robinson Calcagnie Robinson Shapiro Davis, Inc.) is a $250,000 contributor to Yes on Prop. 46.
All across our legal system – through lobbying the legislature and regulatory bodies, and influencing the courts – trial lawyers are systematically exploiting every possible opportunity to increase the volume of and payouts from lawsuits in our state. That is the reason why survey after surveyshows that California’s legal system is one of the worst in the nation.
And who ends up paying? California’s consumers, taxpayers and businesses.
Back in August, 97% of the contributions to Yes on Prop. 46 were from trial lawyers. Every day the trial lawyers are spending thousands of dollars supporting the Yes on Prop. 46 campaign. This cycle will not stop unless the voters see what lies as the true motive for these individuals. Profit. Not victims. Do not be fooled. Vote No on Prop. 46.