When you talk to your Republican friends about trial lawyers try to work in these talking points.
Trial lawyers are the only thing that stands between working people and big corporations with entire staffs of lawyers.
Which is worse, a trial lawyer who represents someone like you when they’re hurt by negligence or the defense lawyer who defends the negligent corporation?
Trial lawyers don’t make the awards. They can only tell a jury what the actual damages are. A jury of your peers makes punitive decisions. Do you have a problem with a case being decided by people just like you? Would you rather have it decided by “activist judges”?
Trial lawyers don’t get paid unless they win a case. They can’t afford to take “frivolous cases” that are without merit.
Big corporations don’t lose many cases. If they lose it’s because they did something wrong and a jury of ordinary people like you will decide if they did something wrong.
They’re sure to say that trial lawyers are putting doctors out of business. Tell them it isn’t trial lawyers, it’s insurance companies the raise rates even though they aren’t paying more in lawsuits.
I’m sure they’ll bring up the McDonald’s hot coffee lawsuit. Educate yourself about the true facts of the case and be prepared to present those facts quickly and simply. Think sound bite!
McDonald case:
http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cur78.htm http://library.findlaw.com/1999/Nov/1/129862.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald's_Restaurantshttp://lawandhelp.com/q298-2.htm