Letter: Tort reform is only bad for the lawyers

Tuesday, June 11, 2002 | 8:58 a.m.

California tort reform was passed some 27 years ago and has worked well for everyone except the lawyers. Isn't it interesting how the lawyers always seem to blame the insurance companies or the doctors, but never accept responsibility for their own actions.

Lawsuits still abound in California, but the awards for noneconomic damages have been sharply reduced. Juries no longer have the right to award outrageously large sums of money for suffering that seems to be more in the minds of the lawyers than it does in the bodies of the victims.

Attorneys often receive one-third to one-half of the awards given to their clients. If the lawyers are so concerned about the pain and suffering of their clients, why don't they reduce their fees to 5 or 10 percent of the awards? This would still give them ample fees and would let the victims retain most of the money awarded to them.

My father lived in pain all of his life after an auto accident, but his accident happened so long ago that no one thought of suing. I doubt that the person who hit him would have had any money to pay anyway.

Yes, it would have been helpful to have had some money through the years, but my father took control of his life after spending two years in a hospital. He found work and took responsibility for his own life. He never complained or acted like a victim. Wouldn't it be nice to see people act this way now?

ROBERT DUBIN