Saturday, November 24, 2007

What I have learned

A first main question is whether I (and other tort reform proponests) are basically right and the extent to which we are right about the civil liability system ill serving societal interests and the need for changes to improve significantly how such societal interests are being served.

In all my efforts I have not been able to elicit any respectable intellectual debate from the plaintiffs' lawyers side. I tried to draw out law professors in such debate, but could not do so. I have yet to find any such respectable debate. To me, this is significant evidence that I (and other tort reformeres) are basically right.

Any reader of this blog can try to decide for him or herself whether I (and other tort reformers) are basically right.

On the premise that I (and other tort reformers) are basically right, here are things I have learned.

The legal profession's priorities are first to serve its own economic interests and, in a pervasive and entrenched way, will take action to try to serve those interests and not society's interests when there is a conflict between the two.

In the realm of legislation and lobbying, the legal profession is just another "special interest" group, and a very powerful one at that.

Many judges either don't understand how the civil liability system ill serves balanced societal interests or they understand but are willing to support and advance the lawyers' interests against societal interests.

Legislators succumb to the blandishments and campaign contributions of the lawyers just as they do with other special interest, and legislators repeatedly fail to fulfill properly their obligations to evaluate societal interest and pass laws that advance societal interests and instead continue with their service to special interests.

There is an elitism, snobbism and a type of narrow mindedness in law professors and other academics that results in their unwillingness to lend their names and expertise to public pronouncements that could be helpful to citizens in their formulating their views about tort reform and trying to take action based on such view.

No comments: