The Tortellini is a new blog about tort reform by Stephanie Mencimer, who writes:
This new blog on law and politics is a companion to my forthcoming book, Blocking the Courthouse Door: How the Republican Party and its Corporate Allies are Taking Away Your Right to Sue.The Tortellini: Welcome to the Tortellini, Oct. 17, 2006.
“Tort reform” has become a staple of Republican politics. Limits on lawsuits are offered as a solution to everything from the health care crisis and economic stagnation to America's moral decline. Americans overwhelmingly believe that the nation is awash in frivolous lawsuits.
And that's just where The Tortellini comes in. Because most of what you’ve heard about “lawsuit abuse” is wrong. The majority sentiment on legal reform comes courtesy of a long disinformation campaign by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other big business sponsors like the tobacco, insurance and automobile industries. These folks have managed to convince voters from to Hawaii to Maine that plaintiffs in civil actions are whiners, hustlers, and layabouts, and that their attempts to win the “lawsuit lottery” have created a “litigation explosion.”
The truth, as The Tortellini will attest, is more complex. The number of personal injury filings are falling, not rising, according to sober government data, median awards are falling, and plaintiffs are taking it on the chin, in everything from medical malpractice to products liabilty lawsuits.
With daily posts, original reporting, useful stats, and other features, The Tortellini will give you the skinny on the latest in the fight for the courthouse: from legislative proposals and court decisions, to the clever tactics companies are employing to minimize legal exposure. Not to mention gossip!
Photo from Italian Government Tourist Board - North America.
Filed in: Tortellini, blogs, tort-reform, books, Mencimer
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