About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

58 S.M.U. L. Rev. 225 (2005)
Who Are Those Guys - An Empirical Examination of Medical Malpractice Plaintiffs' Attorneys

handle is hein.journals/smulr58 and id is 235 raw text is: WHO ARE THOSE GUYs? AN EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF MEDICAL MALPRACTICE PLAINTIFFS' ATTORNEYS Catherine.T. Harris* Ralph Peeples** Thomas B. Metzloff*** I. INTRODUCTION TORT reform and medical malpractice litigation are once again in the news. Medical malpractice insurance premiums increase dra- matically. Physicians complain. Insurers blame the tort system and invoke the litany of rapidly escalating jury awards won by those grasping for straws and rapacious plaintiffs' lawyers. National and local medical associations call for reform, while physicians in high-risk specialties talk about curtailing or even abandoning their practices.' Calls for tort re- form become louder and more insistent as President George W. Bush takes up the call for changes such as dollar caps on the amount of non- economic damages that a jury may award.2 Across the nation, bills are introduced at the federal and state level to impose limitations on medical malpractice litigation.3 Plaintiffs' lawyers, and some insurance industry * Wake Forest University. This research was supported with funding from the Rob- ert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, New Jersey, Grant I.D. #027071. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Professor Michael Green, Wake Forest University School of Law. Direct all correspondence to Ralph Peeples, Box 7206, Wake Forest University School of Law, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27109. E-mail: rpeeples@law.wfu.edu. ** Wake Forest University School of Law. *** Duke University School of Law. 1. See, e.g., Sheri Hall, Malpractice Rates Drive Off Doctors, DETROIT NEWS, Oct. 25, 2004, at Al; American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, News Release, Medical Liability Survey Reaffirms More Ob-Gyns Are Quitting Obstetrics (July 16, 2004), available at www.Acog.org/from home/publications/press releases/nr07-16-04.cfm (last visited Feb. 21, 2005); American Medical Association, Medical Liability Reform- Now! at 5-7 (2004), available at http://www.ama-assn.org/go/mlrnow (last visited Feb. 21, 2005). For a thought- ful and concise discussion of the problem of medical malpractice, see David Studdert et al., Medical Malpractice, 350 NEW ENG. J. MED. 283 (2004). 2. See, e.g., Peter Baker, Bush Campaigns to Curb Lawsuits; President Says 'Junk' Litigation is Driving Small-Town Doctors Out of Business, WASHINGTON POsT, Jan. 6, 2005, at Al; Tanya Albert, Bush Stumping for Liability Reform in Judicial Hellhole, AMEDNEWS.COM (Jan. 24, 2005), at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/01/24/ gusb0124.htm (last visited Feb. 18, 2005). 3. See, e.g., Tanya Albert, Doctors to Storm States for Tort Reform, AMEDNEwS.COM (Jan. 17, 2005), at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/01/gvsa0117.htm (last visited Feb. 18, 2005); Stephanie Francis Ward & Siobhan Morrissey, Tort Reform Gaining Trac- tion: Lawyers Predict Election Success Will Spur Federal Efforts, ABA JOURNAL E-RE- 225

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most