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« Brock Offers Entrepreneurial and Financial Background For State Senate Seat | Main | ConvergeSouth, and BlogWorld Expo » October 9, 200710th District Senate Race: Berke Is Part of the Problems He Says He Wants to Help Solve
Berke, who faces Chattanooga businessman Oscar Brock in the Nov. 15 special election, lists jobs and health care as being "important issues," but recent research into the impact of trial lawyers like Berke on the American economy suggests that Berke comes from the wrong profession to adequately address those issues. Berke currently serves as president of the Chattanooga Trial Lawyers Association and previously served as a member of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association Board of Governors, as well as a member of the American Trial Lawyers Association. Trial lawyer money is fueling his campaign - even as both the state and national trial lawyers associations lately have become so embarrassed by their bad reputations that they've quietly changed their names. The truth is, when it comes to jobs and health care, trial lawyers are part of the problems that Berke claims to want to address if elected to the state Senate. Trial lawyers and the out-of-control legal system have greatly escalated health care costs, contributed to the number of uninsured Americans, destroyed jobs and even cost lives. As Kevin Hassett, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute wrote in July 2005, in a commentary about John Roberts' nomination to be Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court: Our legal system has turned into a monstrosity that makes the U.S. the laughingstock of the world legal community.Another research study into the economic impact of out-of-control lawsuits puts the cost much, much higher - in both dollars and lives. According to the Pacific Research Institute study, Jackpot Justice: The True Cost of America's Tort System, America's out-of-control legal system imposes a staggering economic cost of over $865 billion every year calculated that the nation's tort system imposes a yearly "tort tax" of $9,827 for a family of four and raises health care spending in the U.S. by $124 billion. In addition, according to the PRI study, the impact of America's overly expensive liability system on the health care industry costs lives because it "increases the cost of many risk-reducing products and services and health care services, making them less accessible, and in some cases unavailable to consumers. PRI estimates that more than 114,000 people would be alive and working today, but are not due to inefficiencies in the tort system over the last two decades.PRI estimates that American companies suffer more than $367 billion per year in lost product sales because spending on litigation curtails investment in research and development, and lawsuits against American corporations generate an annual loss of $684 billion in shareholder value. Given that half of all US shareholders are ordinary individuals - through their individual investments or company 401(k) plans - that means you and I pay for the excessive costs generated by trial lawyers like Andy Berke. Trial lawyers like Andy Berke do not create jobs and they do not help bring down health care costs or make health care more affordable and accessible. There's no reason to think that Berke - as tied into the trial lawyer leadership as he is in Tennessee - would do anything other than protect the trial lawyers' gravy train once seated in the Senate. Posted in Campaign Season
Comments
So lemme get this straight... Andy Berke being a trial lawyer...is bad. Fred Thompson being a lobbyist...is good. Trial lawyers like Andy Berke do not create jobs I guess you've never heard of paralegals or receptionists, eh? Posted by: Sean Braisted at October 9, 2007 8:54 AMAh, yes, they do create paralegal and receptionist jobs. But trial lawyers create those jobs by suing productive businesses, which leads to job losses at those businesses. Trial lawyers do not add to the overall GDP in the way that a small business entrepreneur does. Not all lawyers are bad, of course. There are even good trial lawyers, and there are sometimes a need for trial lawyers. But in many cases, they force settlements by filing suits intended not to actually go to court but to cause the defendant to agree to a settlement rather than risk a costly litigation process. They also impede the economy by filing frivolous suits over coffee that is too hot or not hot enough, and other such silliness. The people are ill-served by having too many lawyers in the legislature. It's good to have some, of course, but if the choice is between an entrepreneur/businessman/finance guy or a lawyer, I'll vote for the entrepreneur. Provided he represents the right ideology of course. Give me a federalist lawyer who believes in small government and lower taxes (in other words, who believes in more freedom), and I'll vote for the lawyer. Posted by: Bill Hobbs at October 9, 2007 9:35 AMSo your problems with Burke don't stem from profession, rather, the fact that he is a Democrat? I understand that, but why go through all the hullaballoo over claiming your issues is with his being a lawyer? Are there any specific cases in which you feel Andy Burke acted inappropriately or unethically? As for Lawyers forcing settlements, it works both ways, many corporate lawyers use deep pockets as a way of prolonging valid cases and either forcing the plaintiff into settlement, or scaring away lawyers who might be willing to represent an non-wealthy client. It seems your beef with lawyers is only with those who represent the aggrieved, not those doing the aggrieving. Posted by: Sean Braisted at October 9, 2007 11:00 AMSean, the red flag on Berke isn't that he's a lawyer or a Democrat. (Well, the Democrat thing is ALWAYS a red flag with me of course, but that's not the issue here.) The red flag on this issue is that Berke is not only a trial lawyer, he's deeply involved in leading the Chattanooga and Tennessee Trial Lawyers Associations and active with the American Trial Lawyers Association. Those organizations are major obstacles to tort reform. Thus, Berke is allied with and indeed a leader in organizations that stand in opposition to a much-needed reform. That's the main reason to oppose him. Tennessee needs med-mal and general tort reform. Andy Berke's involvement with the trial lawyers associations shows that he will be on the wrong side of that issue. Posted by: Bill Hobbs at October 9, 2007 12:24 PMAndy Berke is certainly going to be an obstacle to the kind of "tort reform" you desire, mainly capping punitive damages; but that doesn't mean that he won't join other Senate Democrats in supporting actual tort reform measures to reduce frivolous lawsuits. Limiting the rewards a victim receives for pain and suffering is not necessarily going to reform the system; but requiring stiffer standards for lawyers to bring a case before a court probably will. Posted by: Sean Braisted at October 9, 2007 12:40 PMDo you really think a leader in the trial lawyer community is going to vote to make it tougher for trial lawyers to file suits? Do you really think a Democratic trial lawyer/senator is going to vote for something that makes it harder for the Democratic Party's fund-raising base to earn money? What are you smoking? The Democratic party in this state dances to whatever tune the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association whistles. Prime Example: Rob Briley and his TTLA lobbyist "friend." Posted by: Bill Hobbs at October 9, 2007 1:10 PM"...they force settlements by filing suits intended not to actually go to court but to cause the defendant to agree to a settlement rather than risk a costly litigation process." It is tough overcoming my gag reflex every time I see a well-known local lawyer in one of his hokey TV commercials. I wonder if he has ever actually tried one of the cases he promotes, or have all the plaintiff's just taken whatever spills off his plate after settlement. Posted by: News 2 Me at October 9, 2007 2:34 PMBill, The Senate Democrats, along with Senate Republicans, passed a bi-partisan tort reform bill in the Senate this year...unfortunately, after some Republican amendments were introduced in the House which attempted to change the substance of the Senate bill, it got kicked back into committee, and is in a "Summer Study Program". Whether its actually being studied; that I don't know. So if all these Democrats and Lawyers were able to pass this legislation, there is no reason to believe that Andy Berke wouldn't have joined them. Posted by: Sean Braisted at October 9, 2007 3:24 PMActually, Sean, what really happened to med-mal reform was that the Republican-lead Senate passed a good bill, but when the legislation came into the House Judiciary Committee, Judiciary Chairman Rob Briley, who was having an affair with the trial lawyers' lobbyist, tacked on amendments that effectively killed the bill, which was, after all, a primary target of the trial lawyers and their lobbyist during this year's legislative session. Posted by: Bill Hobbs at October 10, 2007 1:37 PMCorrect me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the Senate bill amended with a substitution prior to being approved 30-0? The amended version did not carry with it provisions to cap punitive damages. Posted by: Sean Braisted at October 13, 2007 9:28 AMFred Thompson, a Republican, is also a trial lawyer. He even belonged to the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association in the past. Being a "trial lawyer" is not a bad thing. It's not a Republican or Democrat thing. It's an American thing. A trial lawyer is someone who has sworn an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution. Trial lawyers protect your rights. They also keep you and your family safe. Remember the Ford Pinto...the one that blew up? Ford figured that it was cheaper to keep making the Pinto in its defective condition than to fix it. These cars were death traps that killed -- yes, killed -- innocent people. Trial lawyers stopped this and were part of the solution, not the problem. Trial lawyers were also part of the solution when it came to Vioxx (another dangerous product). So please, do not use "trial lawyer" in a derogatory manner; doing so only shows that you're trying to hide the truth and don't know really what's going on. Tony Duncan, Trial Lawyer P.S. Actually, Tennessee DOES NOT need medical malpractice and tort reform either. State Volunteer Mutual Insurance Company ("SVMIC") is the largest insuror of doctors in Tennessee. It is also one of the most financially sound companies in the U.S. Take a look at this article from the Memphis Flyer. Post a comment
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Chattanooga trial lawyer Andy Berke, the Democratic nominee to replace convicted bribe-taker and fellow Democrat Ward Crutchfield in the Tennessee state Senate, is part of an industry whose very impact on the Tennessee economy creates many of the problems he claims to want to solve.