**ALERT** . . Major tort reform reframing push on CBS Sunday Morning..right now!

[annabanana]

They are using the stupid "zero tolerence" action against the little boy who brought camping cutlery to school to push against people who's only defense is a suit.

[Cassandra]

1. And who's riding to the rescue?

A big corporate lawyer. Jeff Greenfield has gotten remarkably stupid over the years.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. My law firm does a lot of defense of students, both public and private schools.

We do not immediately initiate lawsuits. We enter into discussions, negotiations, mediation well before drafting complaints. Our clients are minors who are compelled to participate in education programs and while in this compulsory environment, their physical, mental, and/or emotional wellbeing is attacked and sometimes damaged by the school establishment or fellow students. These plaintiffs do not deserve an existence where they are apprehensive, depressed, or afraid to go to school. Not to mention having a permanent record that will have have an adverse effect on their future, whether it's college, transferring to another school, or even employment.

"Tort reform" means letting children be punished recklessly with impunity.

[KharmaTrain]

3. The Problem Is Reform Is Needed

Not the way the rushpublicans would want that makes all corporations infallible and try to stifle the rights of anyone to seek restitution when they are wronged. A majority of lawsuits are bona fide and lawyers and prosecutors are careful to bring suits that they can't win or will be thrown on by judges.

That said, there is a minority of lawyers who see people's suffering as their gravy train and will sue everyone and anyone in sight. Some will pay off rather than go through the headaches of a trial or to see their own insurance rates rise just by being part of a suit. Even if and when a judge throws out the case or narrows the focus, millions are squandered in lawyers fees in cases that shouldn't have been brought in the first place. An adjudication panel that will judge the merits and validity of the defendants is a step in the right direction. Again, this isn't the majority, but it is a problem that keeps insurance rates high (or gives the justification for it) and wastes time and court money.

We've become a litigious society...with more lawyers per person than any other country. It's turned the judicial system...specifically the civil courts, into a jungle where the backlogs have hurt people who deserve quick and speedy trials but are stuck in a battle between laywers that turn into time and money. I have a friend involved in a job discrimination suit...it's been ongoing for nearly 2 years and the employer's lawyers are using every trick in the book to stretch things out, hoping my friend will wear down and drop out or forced into dire financial straits as it's hard to find a new job when she's involved with endless court dates.

Yes, reform is needed.