The Business of Law – Marketing and Business for Enterprising Attorneys

Please, please, please can we stop pretending that the only thing holding up healthcare reform is the fact that we haven’t all agreed to a system that caps medical malpractice awards.  But that unfortunately is just what Bob Beckel over at Real Clear Politics argues.   In fact, he calls it the “Dems Ace in the Hole”.

Let me let Bob have the floor for a minute.  In a nutshell, he argues that Dems don’t support caps on med mal awards, because the trial lawyers have traditionally supported democratic candidates (guilty as charged Bob) and that Dems are afraid that the trial lawyers will abandon the party if they don’t hold the line on caps.

Moreover, Bob seems to imply that the only reason lawyers oppose caps is because huge portions of the punitive damage awards go to the lawyers, and the victimes are compensated with “pitifully” small payments.

Finally, Bob theorizes that if the Dems cave on med mal caps, it will force the Republicans (who are behaving so reasonably right now) to accept other aspects of the healthcare plan that they don’t currently support.

Now let me offer my own two cents…

(continue reading…)