TORT REFORM: limit of $250,000 not the answer: lower contingency fees, losers pay as in Europe: asbestos case is major cost

CNN.com - Tort reform important to U.S. future - Jan 6, 2005: "By Lou Dobbs | CNN | Thursday, January 6, 2005 Posted: 4:41 PM EST (2141 GMT)

The members of the 109th Congress will have to deal with several complex issues if the Bush administration has its way. The president has been steadily advancing his political agenda since his re-election, pushing some major and controversial reform proposals to the top of the congressional docket.
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And unless some changes are made to our current system, costs could rise as much as 8 percent over the next few years, bringing tort costs up to $1,000 per person. But simply putting a $250,000 limit on medical malpractice awards for pain and suffering, as proposed by this administration, is not the answer to this growing problem.
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the median jury verdict for the plaintiff winner in state courts was $37,000 in 2001. But in civil trial cases that were decided by judges that year, the median verdict was nearly 25 percent lower. Judges in those cases also awarded punitive damages less frequently, and smaller awards when granting punitive damages. European courts do not allow punitive damages.

Plaintiffs in most European courts must also pay the legal costs for the defendant if they lose the case. This loser-pays system, which is in effect in nearly every common-law jurisdiction outside the United States, cuts down on many cases without merit by forcing a claimant to hesitate before filing a questionable lawsuit.

European courts also don't allow contingency fees for lawyers, reducing speculative litigation that can result in a large jackpot. If we're going to limit damage awards, why wouldn't we limit the amount of money an attorney can make in seeking those damages, oftentimes a third to 40 percent of those awards?
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Most civil cases are settled out of court. In fact, only 3 percent of tort cases actually make it to trial, and those settlements are fairly reasonable in most cases. The main cause of rising medical costs and insurance rates are the extreme cases involving large class-action suits. Cases like asbestos settlements, which are responsible for the largest tort settlements and the most expensive litigation in U.S. history, are the biggest single reason tort costs have risen so much in recent years.