IF you wish to see fear in the face of a member of the Plaintiffs' Bar, say two words: tort reform. Basically that's the catch phrase for any laws that limit a person's right to sue to recover damages because of someone else's fault.
In 1987, when I was a second year lawyer at a defense firm in Miami, the Florida Legislature came up with Amendment 10, which would have seriously crippled PI cases. I remember a firm lunch, where an earnest young lawyer, a former pilot named Greg, brought up the topic at a weekly lunch. His clients, Lloyds of London, had asked what our firm was doing to help the law pass. Greg suggested maybe we station staff at polling places with Vote Yes signs.
The head of the firm, Calvin, who I nicknamed "The World's WASPIEST Jew," asked Greg if he was stupid or just naive. "If the PI guys go under, what the hell becomes of OUR firm?" Poor Greg looked near tears -- he failed to see the big picture. The law failed, anyway.
Since then there has been SOME tort reform, but this year there's a whole different animal. The Florida Legislature has a GOP super majority, plus Ron DeSantis, and so basically can get whatever anti trial lawyer stuff passed they desire. And so it came to happen.
DeSantis, so mafia like, has said he would sign the bill today, and it would take effect immediately. Laws usually take effect in July, but not under this new Don. In a nutshell, the law brings Florida back to the old days -- if a plaintiff is 51% at fault, he's out of court. For all the modern times, we had what is called comparative fault -- the plaintiff's award is simply reduced by the amount of fault he had. Now he gone completely.
Also, in negligent security cases, the criminal goes on the verdict form, even though the theory on those case was negligence -- allowing the criminal access to you. I have an old acquaintance, Todd, who works for a firm that does almost exclusively those cases. I'm guessing he's going to be looking for another line of work.
Additionally, the whole letter of protection thing is going away. It used to be that a poor client who was hurt, through his lawyer, would get medical providers to treat him, in exchange for the pledge they'd be paid out of any judgment or settlement. In exchange, the providers charged retail. No mas. Now they only get what Medicare or Medicaid would have paid. It'll be a desparate doc indeed who would agree to wait to be paid tiny amounts in exchange for his forbearance. I know one operator in particular, a chiropractor who owns major clinics, named Barry, who is probably headed to an earlier retirement than he wished.
All of this has caused a scramble to get cases filed before the law. My friend Stu filed 32 lawsuits by last night. I imagine the Florida Court Clerks are working overtime lately, to get things in before today, when the laws take effect.
Young lawyers I know are crafty -- they'll figure out ways to get out of this latest mousetrap. As for dinosaurs like me, well, just makes me happy we were able to make a living before all this silliness came to be. And government is a pendulum -- eventually Floridians will realize DeSantis and his minions ain't really good for us.
Hopefully the Dems can come up with an opponent less clownish than the last guy -- who came close to beating DeSantis, even though he was later found passed out on drugs in South Beach with a gay escort. Only pols in D.C. are allowed to pull that crap -- without the gay part, anyway.
D2 was over the other night, talking with Wifey and me. We remembered how crazy the last 3 years have been -- mostly because of the plague. That finally seems endemic, even though in my circle it's picking off everyone who never had it before, despite the jabs. I know of FIVE friends, previously Covid virgins, who finally got it -- though thankfully not dangerously sick.
So, as every woman of a certain age's anthem says, I will survive. We all will, mostly. I'm just glad I'm not a Court clerk this week.
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