The plaintiff bar is regaining the power, influence, and wealth it had before tort reform swept through in the early 21st century. Some contend it was that zeitgeist which helped the defendants in the lead paint public nuisance litigation to eventually triumph Download Statev.LeadIndustriesAssoc.,Inc.. Defense attorneys representing corporate America such as Jones Day's Mickey Pohl whose client was Sherwin-Williams became rock stars. After all, they toiled in the trenches of law for the public good.
Now, it's the plaintiff attorneys who might be re-anointed as the front lines of laboring for the public good. We could have a return to the folk heroes like Dickie Scruggs, but with lessons learned about arrogance and corruption. [Good read is "Kings of Tort" by Alan Lange and Tom Dawson.]
A sign of that is the Illinois Supreme Court's ruling yesterday. It decided that caps on non-economic damages in medical-malpractice cases were unconstitutional. This ruling can embolden the plaintiff bar in other states. Populism is anti-business.
The Law Blog for THE WALL STREET JOURNAL reports, "Many state supreme courts have upheld the constitutionality of damage limits, but the high courts in Georgia, Kansas, and Missouri currently are weighing the issue."
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