It occurs to me -- not for the first time -- that the anti-plaintiff propagandists have been effective in distilling the argument down to very simple terms, on the order of "greedy trial lawyers BAD, their opposition, GOOD." In the medical malpractice fight that is again gearing up, they have even gotten doctors to front for them, creating the patina of reliability. An example is this American Medical Association page.

The problem is, it's all an illusion. The real truth is that trial lawyers are GOOD, and their opponents, namely big insurance and big business, are BAD. Why? they want to increase their profits by taking away fundamental rights of people. I love to see the TV commercials from State Farm (Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm is There) or Allstate (The Good Hands People). Right. State Farm is there to take your premium dollar but screw you if you dare to make a liability claim against it. The only thing Allstate's hands are good for is taking your cash to increase its bottom line. I've said it for years: The insurance compnaies are supposed to be in the business of paying claims; in truth, they are in the business of making money, and if they can lowball you or deny you, all the better for them.

I shudder to think of how much money the carriers spend NOT paying legitimate but low value claims, and paying instead lawyers to litigate them for, sometimes, years. All to put it to the poor plaintiff who had the temerity to want full value for their case. There's another hidden cost of litigation: the unnecessary lawsuits caused by the insurance companies who refuse to negotiate and settle cases in good faith. And believe me, it happens all the time.

So, what I thought I'd try to do here is to present an accurate reality to anyone who might tune in to this page. In a nutshell, "trial lawyers" is NOT a dirty word; far from it. We are the ones who try to help people and make a living at it, and we are vilified. What's wrong with that picture?

Anyway, anyone who has links to pages on the general subject, feel free to email me at instalawyer@yahoo.com. RE: opposing viewpoints, I may post the links or opinions, or may not (oh, hell, I probably will; I'm fair-minded, mostly).