Lawyer: Malpractice fees should not be capped

Monday, June 17, 2002 | 10:39 a.m.

RENO -- A prominent trial attorney has told the state Board of Health that government should not limit the fees of lawyers in medical malpractice cases, because they sometimes have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars before a trial begins.

Bill Bradley, former president of the Nevada Trial Association, said government should not interfere with a client-attorney fee contract. The issue was raised at a Friday board meeting by Chairman Dr. Joey Villaflor, who referred to a multimillion-dollar settlement in which the lawyer reportedly received more than the injured party in a malpractice case.

Villaflor said attorneys sometimes view doctors as "Megabucks," referring to the slot machines with big jackpots.

Bradley said the report was incorrect and that the lawyer did not receive more than the client.

Bradley is one of the trial lawyers working with representatives of doctors and insurance companies trying to reach a compromise that could be presented to a special session of the Legislature to solve the malpractice crisis. A meeting of the group is scheduled for today in Las Vegas.

Gov. Kenny Guinn has given the competing parties 45 days to work out a solution that could be presented to a special session.

Some have suggested that lawyers fees should be capped in malpractice lawsuits as one way to keep the amount of the judgments down.

Bradley said medical malpractice cases are "very difficult" and that a lawyer could spend $20,000 to $30,000 before the case gets past the medical-screening panel. It might take three to four years in Clark County before the case comes to trial, he said.

"Fees can go into the hundreds of thousands of dollars," he said, noting it would be wrong to brand these as "outrageous fees."

The health board adopted a resolution urging the special legislative committee on malpractice to conduct a thorough study, look at what has been done in other states and consider the suggestions of the Nevada Medical Association.

In other action the board approved a regulation calling for the licensing of mobile medical units that are used mostly in rural Nevada to bring care to medically underserved areas.

The board also called for the licensing of laser eye surgery centers.