Boo hoo hoo

The whole purpose of workers compensation was to get lawyers OUT of the process so that the injured workers could have medical and wage expenses covered without needing to sue their employer.

For every layer who worked for $13.75 an hour there are ten who "earned" a statutory $2000.00 fee for finding that the insurer miscalculated a benefit by $0.02 per payment period

Usually when I see that the injured worker retains counsel for a workers comp claim, before encountering any difficulties with the insurer, the intent, in some form or another, is to commit fraud upon the system

In this article, how does tort reform have anything to do with an attorney only getting $13.75/hr for their work? This is just an example of someone trying to do the right thing and feeling bad that they doen't get paid as much as they would like. They should try rushing in the middle of the night to save the life of a patient with hepatitis C dying from a car accident. Not only do you not get paid, you get a chance to catch an incurable disease and get sued in the process.

Do you honestly think that $13.75 an hour, even with this tort reform, is representative of what trial lawyers make? In a broader sense, do you think there are not many overpaid trial lawyers? There is much (warranted) discussion of excessive executive pay, I am always surprised at how little talk there is of trial lawyers (many of whom earn just as much).

PS You should also note PWD's post. Eliminating litigation and its tremendous costs was much of the point of forming our no-fault WC system. Perhaps a good thing to add to corpreform and keep in mind for future posts.

Drew: No, of course most lawyers don't make $13.75 an hour. But some do. Hell, I knew of one lawyer who worked for $9 as a secretary. Granted, that's because she failed the bar three times... but I digress.

The point is not all, and not even most trial lawyers are multimillionaires. The great majority of them never handle a case more exciting than a car wreck, and the vast majority of them never collect even a single six-figure fee.

"In this article, how does tort reform have anything to do with an attorney only getting $13.75/hr for their work? This is just an example of someone trying to do the right thing and feeling bad that they doen't get paid as much as they would like. They should try rushing in the middle of the night to save the life of a patient with hepatitis C dying from a car accident. Not only do you not get paid, you get a chance to catch an incurable disease and get sued in the process."

Does Chris work for free? Is his idea of tort reform to make law volunteer work? Or maybe a charity? How many people rush out in the middle of the night to save the life of a patient with hepatitis C? I can tell you that no doctor I have ever met would. I doubt my neighbor would. Gee, probably Chris would. So how many other patients with hepatitis C will die because they must resort to the kindness of strangers?

In response to Leo's comment. Under EMTALA law, if you are on call for the hospital and you are called in, you must come in and see the pateint and render care. If you do not, you are in violation of these laws. Further, if you are in the er and the patient comes in, you must see them. So when you ask how many doctors will do this, the answer is every doctor in and on call for emergency rooms. Currently, 24% of the patients seen in our facility are uninsured, not counting illegals which are 6%. Now, is there an EMTALA law for lawyers?