Reform is needed now

The road is slick. Traffic is heavy. And suddenly metal finds metal as two vehicles collide. Fortunately there are no injuries and the damage is minor. A police report is filed, and a one paragraph news story runs in the paper.

That should be the end of things, right?

But in some ways, it's only the beginning.

Within a few days the letters start arriving.

They're from lawyers, but they're not from any law firm in Jay County.

Instead, they're from the law firms whose ads you've seen on cable TV.

The letters - billed as advertising material to keep the bar association happy - are trolling for business.

Were you injured? Do you have a claim against somebody? Is there someone you can sue so you can make a buck off your fender-bender? Can we convince you to think of yourself as a victim or aggrieved party?

The letters come, and just as suddenly as the initial collision you realize what Republicans are talking about when they call for tort reform.

Lawsuits have become a big business, a growth industry in our economy.

And somewhere along the way, we seem to have lost our balance between making sure there is adequate legal protection for people with legitimate claims and creating grievances and victimhood out of whole cloth.

The problem now is how to undo that culture of spurious litigation without having the pendulum swing too far back in the other direction. In other words, it's not a question of whether tort reform is needed, it's a question of how to go about it responsibly and equitably. - J.R[[In-content Ad]]