Don’t Let Our Seventh Amendment Rights Get Left Behind

Nov 5, 2014

The 2014 election results were quite the surprise. As a Georgia Truck Wreck Lawyer, Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer and Medical Malpractice lawyer, (yes I practice in all of these areas, with the help of the experts in my office, when there are catastrophic injuries) election results matter because of how politics affect access to the courts and the laws that create and govern my client’s claims.

So, I was disappointed to see the U.S. Senate fall into the hands of the Republicans. Sen. McConnell, for years, has wanted to limit the rights of every day people to have their day in court. Simply put, he wants to give corporations and careless doctors and hospitals immunity. This matters to all of us. It is the civil justice system that is the great leveler that causes corporations to make safe products. Corporations say this adds to the cost of products – but I know that all my clients who lost hands, and legs and vision would have gladly paid a few cents more for a safe product. Also, good engineering doesn’t have to cost more, it just has to be better. With respect to malpractice, Doctors are more careful when they know there are consequences that affect their pocket books. Doctors call this litigation driven, defensive, medicine. Ask the family whose child was saved because of a test that was defensive medicine, or the wife whose husband is still at work because he was kept in the hospital an extra day just to be on the safe side what they think. It’s not defensive medicine to them. Besides, I’ve never seen this defensive medicine the medical industry talks about. Indeed, despite the fact I’ve deposed hundreds of doctors, I’ve never had a single one say that what he did for his patient, and got paid for, was not medically necessary. I also mentioned that we are Atlanta truck wreck lawyers; so you might ask how politics affect truck wrecks. Is simple really.

The rules relating to hours of service, the size of trucks, the amount of insurance trucks carry, and indeed the amount of damages they have to pay are decided by politicians. Politics matter. I hope that we don’t see our Seventh Amendment rights left behind in a rush to help corporate America get richer.

Categories: