testimony.” The U.S. Chamber of Commerce bought radio ads complaining about the “ridiculous” verdict. They were but one of numerous groups, unhindered by facts, which reduced this complex piece of litigation to politically compelling sound bites. While Mencimer’s review of the Liebeck case is thorough,
there are two noteworthy factors she neglects to mention: 1) McDonald’s coffee makers squeezed out more cups per pound by brewing at 205 degrees; and, 2) Liebeck’s injuries would have been much less severe if the coffee which she spilled upon her lap had been a more tepid 158 degrees. These are the sorts of details that the “tort-reformers” always forget to mention when going on the attack. In Chapter 3, “Mess with Texas: George W. Bush and the
Texas Tort Moguls,” Mencimer argues that “under the guise of reining in frivolous lawsuits, greedy trial lawyers and Robin Hood juries, big corporations have all but eviscerated the civil justice system in Texas.” While she notes that Karl Rove takes credit for talking his former boss into taking the lead on the topic, “the former Yale cheerleader was the friendly face business groups needed to make lawsuit restrictions palatable to the public.” Mencimer relays that tort filings in Texas have plummeted 40 percent from 1993 through 2002. Reflecting that the campaign to undercut the jury system remains one of stealth, “[m]ost Texans aren’t aware of what they’ve lost until they find they need a lawyer.” Mencimer has a clean and fact-based writing style, as she
sets forth the compelling case for vigilance against the “tort- reformers.” In wittily titled chapters such as “Shock and Law: The War on Lawyers,” “Crackpot Justice: the Myth of the Frivolous Lawsuit,” and “In Big Government We Trust: How the GOP Learned to Love Bureaucrats,” to name but three, she debunks litigation myths, exposes sham think tanks and uncov- ers the real lawsuit abuse that occurs when injured persons are denied a fair trial because juries have “been exposed to decades’ worth of propaganda about frivolous lawsuits and greedy trial lawyers.” One more minor criticism is worth mention: the book’s endnotes leave much to be desired. While Mencimer provides
16 pages of endnotes with page references, there are no cor- responding notes within the text. Accordingly, those wishing to do follow-up reading are left to guess which part of the text on a given page is supported by the author’s notes. It would seem that this effort, which clearly required so much research, should have been more carefully substantiated. Mencimer proves to be no darling of the plaintiffs’ bar, as she
concludes her book by describing the scene at the 2005 ATLA convention in Palm Springs, California – “private jets,” “trophy wives” and “middle-aged white guys . . . play[ing] winter golf under the tax-deductible guise of ‘continuing legal education.’” The vendors’ hall at the convention, dealing in computer rec- reations of gruesome accidents, bloody depictions of surgeries gone awry and unvarnished “day in the life videos,” represent “all that is horrible, opportunistic and grotesque about the tort system, and yet it demonstrates so starkly why it’s so necessary to protect the health and well-being of average citizens.” In contrast to the European system of “cradle-to-grave” social
benefits, “Americans have chosen to place the cost of injuries on those who caused them, primarily through the civil justice system.” The irony, lost on the “tort-reformers,” is that our civil justice system is one of personal responsibility and smaller government. Unfortunately, Mencimer’s inescapable conclu- sion is that we are losing the battle to retain our civil justice system “as the last real obstacle to an unfettered free market in America.”n
About the Author
David V. Diggs is a partner with the Baltimore firm, Kahn, Smith & Collins, P.A. He handles family law and personal injury cases. Mr. Diggs chairs MTLA’s Family Law Section and also serves on the editorial board of the Trial Reporter. He is a member of the Maryland State, Baltimore City and Anne Arundel County Bar associations. Heavily involved in community activities, Mr. Diggs is a co-chair of the College Bound Foundation’s Lawyers’ Campaign. He was also the recipient of the 1995 Maryland Bar Association People’s Pro Bono Award and has an AV peer review rating from the American Bar Association.
January 11, 2008
Young Lawyers Seminar The Myths of Discovery and
February 7, 2008
Brown Bag Luncheon #4 An Update of Medicare/
E-filing in the 21st Century Medicaid Liens in Maryland Howard Community College Columbia, MD
TeleSeminar March 6, 2008
Brown Bag Luncheon #5 Current Legal Topics MTLA Office Baltimore, MD
Fall 2007 March 26, 2008
Case Evaluation Clinic MTLA Office Baltimore, MD
March 26, 2008
Membership Dinner/Meeting Best Tips for Settlement and Trial Tactics Radisson Plaza Baltimore, MD
Trial Reporter
Register Today Phone: 410-539-4336 Fax: 410-783-5981
www.mdtriallawyers.com 35
MTLA Education February 29, 2008
Nursing Home Seminar Columbia Hilton Columbia, MD
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60