Let's protect the lawyers
Personal injury lawyers will be moving to Illinois in waves as soon as they get wind of this recent decision by the state's Supreme Court (ok, not just PIs). The court just placed a limit on the amount of damages in malpractice cases against the legal profession.
The court ruled that clients may sue their lawyers for the standard, compensatory damages they would have won if their lawsuit had been properly brought.But writing for the majority, Justice Lloyd Karmeier said clients could not sue their lawyers for lost punitive damages, which juries sometimes award to punish defendants for intentional misconduct.
Lawyers should pay for their negligence, but to hold them responsible for the intentional misconduct of someone else "tears the concept of punitive damages from its doctrinal moorings," Karmeier wrote.
Frankly, placing a limit on damages is a mistake. Who is to say that the award granted is more compensatory than punitive? The jury is there to decide, and if they decide that a client lost 2 million because of a lawyer's gross negligence, then the award is fair. That's why it's called malpractice. It's supposed to hurt. Cutting an award in half or more doesn't teach that lawyer a lesson. It's more like a mere slap on the hand. So, don't screw up.
And if malpractice insurance is getting you down, please complain to the insurance industry already! I'm sick and tired of hearing of damage caps to ease insurance premiums when the real criminal is the industry. Only 1% to 5% of lawsuits make it to court (yes, all the ones we hear on the news, subtract the majority). Doctors, lawyers, businesswomen bleed money thanks to rising insurance premiums. They say it's all the lawsuit abuse, but it's not possible. It's a handy excuse that works because everyone feeds into their spiel. When was the last insurance company bankruptcy or merger? They just keep springing up, raising premiums, and playing the blame game on their own clients or wherever they can find it.
Caps you say. And when you actually do need to sue for a real grievance that deserves a 1 million payout, you'll get $25,000 thanks to you and the government. Don't forget about taxes and the reasonable lawyer fees. Abuse exists. Just don't get rid of the protections. They are there for a reason. Really.
