Republicans on Lawyers
As a lifelong conservative Republican who also happens to be a plaintiff’s lawyer, I am compelled to respond to the attacks on trial lawyers by President Bush and Vice President Quayle in their acceptance speeches at the Republican convention (Aug. 21).
We have safer highways, automobiles and other products, higher standards of health care and a more humane workplace in America because of trial lawyers. This profession was once esteemed by the public as a noble calling. Our greatest political leaders (i.e., Webster, Lincoln, Bryan) were trial lawyers.
It is my experience from 20 years of trying cases that it is extremely difficult to persuade a jury to award damages to an undeserving plaintiff. In fact, roughly half of all civil cases are successfully defended. Generally, jurors engage in a conscientious effort to reach just and truthful verdicts.
According to a 1991 RAND study, there are fewer lawsuits today as a percentage of the general population than there were in Colonial times. Mechanisms exist in the form of post-trial motions and appellate review to protect against occasional excessive and/or unwarranted jury awards.
The one group dedicated to the protection and preservation of individual rights in this country does not deserve to be made “scapegoats” by our nation’s leaders.
WILLIAM M. CROSBY
Irvine
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