President’s
Message by Alison D. Kohler
Alison D. Kohler (Dugan, Babij & Tolley, LLC, Timonium) received her J.D. Magna Cum Laude from Georgetown University Law School. She is a member of MTLA’s President’s Club as an Eagle and serves on the Executive Committee. She has previously served as Chair
of the Fundraising Committee and is currently a member of the Legislative Committee. Ms. Kohler has previously served on the Executive Committee of the Bar Association of Baltimore City, and the Board of Governors of the MSBA, and was Past President of Executive Women’s Network. Ms. Kohler represents seriously injured children and adults in the areas of medical malpractice, premises and product liability, negligent security, disability insurance, and general tort litigation.
As I write this column, MTLA is in the
throes of the Legislative Session, and I wanted to give the membership an over- view of the important work being done by the MTLA lobbyists and by the legis- lative team, under the direction of Bob Zarbin. We have been closely following at least 120 bills that have been introduced in ei- ther the House or Senate. We have provided testimony on scores of these bills. Witnesses have frequently had to stay in Annapolis long into the evening hours in order to testify. The MTLA lobbyists have been working hard both in the hearings and behind the scenes to educate the leg- islators about issues of vital importance to our clients and our membership. Bills to which we have devoted substantial at- tention have crossed all practice areas. Some highlights follow: The workers’ compensation team, un- der the leadership of Andy Kahn, has analyzed and provided testimony on a multitude of bills in the workers’ com- pensation area. MTLA has supported legislation designed to stop the compen- sation carriers from limiting their payment to doctors who provide medical care to injured workers. MTLA has op- posed numerous bills designed to limit the rights of injured workers in areas such as occupational disease definitions, waivers
of coverage for certain laborers, exclusions from temporary total disability benefits, and other procedural and substantive matters. Similarly, Eric Schloss, Chair of the Au- tomobile Negligence Section, has worked with the legislative team to win approval of SB 543/HB 1279, which would allow out-of-state motorists who cause collisions in Maryland to be served through the MVA. MTLA vigorously opposed por- tions of SB975/HB1600, which would take away a client’s right to recover both PIP benefits and’his/her medical bills from the third-party tortfeasor, in direct contravention of Maryland’s long estab- lished collateral source rule. The MTLA team has also opposed a
variety of bills designed to limit citizens’ rights to access the courts in personal in- jury cases. For example, MTLA is actively opposing bills that seek to grant immu- nity to a variety of special interest groups and professionals, bills that would reduce the post-judgment rate of interest, and bills that would protect negligent land- lords from responsibility for compensating children who are poisoned by lead paint not removed from their rental properties. Finally, we have seen the return of a series of medical malpractice tort reform proposals, including a comprehensive bill
from Governor Ehrlich. These bills would reduce the non-economic damages cap to $500,000, eliminate the collateral source rule, adopt a Daubert-style standard for expert opinion testimony, subject expert testimony to Board of Medicine review, grant immunity to negligent emergency room and hospital personnel, and sharply limit the recovery of future economic damages. Our efforts to oppose these bills have been supported by the courageous testimony of victims of malpractice and their families (including clients of MTLA members), who have displayed more poise, grace and patience before the Leg- islature than anyone had a right to expect. In sharp contrast to the compelling testi- mony of these patient advocates, the proponents of tort reform so far have been unable satisfactorily to explain the record surplus funds (now exceeding $172 M) reported by Medical Mutual, or the need for more tort reform in the face of steadily declining malpractice claims and payouts for the past several years – all before the latest tort reform measures could have any effect. If you see any member of the legisla- tive team, please be sure to thank them for their dedicated work on behalf of your clients and your practice. The team in- cludes Bob Zarbin, Chair, Dave Albright, Dwayne Brown, Matt Darby, Beth Frey, Larry Greenberg, Andy Kahn, Saul Kerpelman, Bruce Plaxen , Eric Schloss, Suzanne Shapiro, Lisa
Smith, Evan Pre Settlement Funding • Law Firm Financial Products
John Friedson President
P.O. Box 1339 Rockville, Maryland 20849 (301) 984-0600 Fax: (301) 984-0719 Email:
jfriedson@hotmail.com 4 Trial Reporter
Thalenberg, George Tolley, Jeffrey Weinberg, David Wildberger, Wayne Willoughby and the MTLA lobbyists, Dan Doherty, Mindy Binderman and Gerry Evans. While it is too early to re- port the results of MTLA’s efforts, you can be assured that MTLA is working hard in Annapolis and will continue to fight for the rights of our clients through the final hours of the Session.
Winter 2006
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