Legal Reform
Republicans, Democrats, and Independents from all across the country understand that our society has become litigious to an extreme degree. Texas has been active for years at improving this problem behind Texans for Lawuit Reform. Since 1994, TLR has worked to pass lawsuit reforms that have made the Lone Star State a model for the nation. TLR describes the problem best on their website www.tortreform.com. "We are small business owners, homemakers, and community volunteers. We are lawyers who want our profession back, and plant managers who want our companies to expand facilities to create jobs for Texans. We are consumers who want to eliminate the wasteful "tort tax" from the products and services produced in Texas. We are ranchers and teachers who have anguished over needless lawsuits. We are doctors and nurses who have seen our colleagues abandon their chosen professions because of the emotional and financial toll imposed by legal assaults. We are the citizens of Texas who want a better future for ourselves and our children." The ability to bring suit for a grievance is an important right in America that must not be abused either from limitation to use or excessive use. Today it is excessive use. The Overcriminalization guide prepared by The Heritage Foundation is an eye opener.
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The Anthem Class-Action Con

2/12/18
from The Wall Street Journal,
2/12/18:

Judge Lucy Koh exposes what amounts to legal looting.

Plaintiff attorneys aren’t easily shamed, but they should be after a rebuke by a federal judge in California for trying to con class-action victims. Four law firms last year negotiated a $115 million settlement with insurer Anthem to cover a 2015 data breach that compromised 79 million birth dates, Social Security numbers, addresses and income data. Yet a mere $51.4 million would go to victims—$0.65 on average per member, including the cost of free-credit monitoring. Attorneys demanded $63.6 million because of what they called their “exceptional results” and the “extremely risky nature” of the case.

“I never would have approved 53 law firms in my case. If I thought eight was too many, what made you think I wanted 53 firms churning on this case?” Judge Koh scolded the attorneys recently. This profit-sharing agreement may be an antitrust violation if they colluded to carve up other cases or raise their rates. The judge also asked why 100 of the 329 attorneys who performed routine tasks like document review were partners at their firms and a couple dozen were contract attorneys charging $300-$400 an hour. The prevailing wage for contract attorneys is $25 to $50 per hour. “I would like you to find a single paying client that would have approved these type of markups in a contract attorney,” she told the attorneys. “I’m entitled to know how much profit you think you’re entitled to with regard to every one of these people.”

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