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| | Understanding tort reform (Page 1 of 2) |
 | | Tort reform is a somewhat confusing hodgepodge of legal issues. | | | Reforms range from legislation that directly affects certain areas of tort law, such as medical malpractice, to changes in various rules, defenses and limits commonly employed in many of these cases that can impact how much an individual or group receives in damages, in a court case. | | | Most people have heard of tort reform, a movement to reshape the way consumers can access the courts by restricting their right to sue and limiting the awards they could receive. |
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http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/pf/20050727a1.asp
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| | Tort Reform |
| | Tort law, like most of our legal system, is traditionally a matter of state "common law" and legislation. | | | In its political context, "tort reform" generally refers to proposals to limit the prevalence of legal claims prosecuted with the assistance of personal injury lawyers which are perceived to unfairly burden insurance policy holders with exorbitant premiums. | | | Technically, a tort is any civil wrong in which a damaged victim can seek legal redress from the individual who caused the harm. |
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http://www.newsbatch.com/tort.htm
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| | Tort Reform Lawsuit Overview - Find Trial Lawyers and Attorneys with Experience in Tort Reform Personal Injury Law |
| | Tort law is almost exclusively contained in state law, and the large majority of tort cases are filed in state courts. | | | Notwithstanding the broad definition of a tort, injuries caused by a breach of contract are generally addressed under contract law--with the exception of injuries involving medical malpractice or defective or dangerous products, which are addressed as torts even when the parties have an explicit contract. | | | One example of that complexity is the boundary line between tort law and contract law. |
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http://www.injuryboard.com/view.cfm/Topic=1255
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| | Tort Reform: An Overview of State Legislative Efforts to Improve the Legal System: Overview |
| | Collateral source payments occur whenever a plaintiff in a tort case receives compensation or benefits from a party not involved with the litigation to compensate for the damages the plaintiff sustained. | | | Ohio HB 212 provides specific criteria for computation of interest on tort related judgments when courts determine that the party required to pay failed to make a good faith effort to settle and the party to whom judgment is owed did make a good faith effort to settle. | | | ATRA also supports a more general reform of class action laws to ensure that litigation with national implications is heard at the federal court level. |
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http://www.namic.org/reports/tortReform/overview.asp
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| | Tort-Reform-Summary-April-2003 |
| | Reform of class action lawsuits is one of the top priority tort reform issues in Washington. | | | In addition to being one of the most pressing issues in Washington, tort reform also is one of the most politically charged. | | | Increasingly because of the recent terrorism insurance legislative battle, those that seek legal reform, and even those that oppose any such reform, all agree on this: real estate interests in the United States can make a difference in the way issues are ultimately resolved. |
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http://www.rer.org/politicalaction/Tort-Reform-Summary-April-2003.cfm
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| | Medical Malpractice Tort Reform |
| | NCSL has policy opposing any federal legislation that preempts state regulation of medical malpractice tort law, especially in the areas of statutes of limitation, rules and standards of evidence, the drafting of pleadings, the awarding of attorney fees, and damages limits. | | | NCSL does, however, maintain that any tort reform efforts belong under the purview of the states and that any federal legislation on this issue inappropriately interferes with state jurisdiction. | | | Most bills in 2005 focused on traditional tort reform issues such as limits to noneconomic damage awards, the allocation of plaintiff attorney fees as a percentage of a damages award, expert witness standards, and the inadmissibility of apology statements by health care practitioners. |
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http://www.ncsl.org/standcomm/sclaw/medmaloverview.htm
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| | Tort Reform |
| | In 1929, when the legislature waived the sovereign immunity previously enjoyed by both the State and its municipalities, only the State was placed within the protective jurisdiction of the Court of Claims; municipalities became subject to suit before juries in the Supreme Court. | | | Tort reform will not - and should not - eliminate tort payouts, but instead will contain them to reasonable amounts while still fairly compensating injured plaintiffs. | | | These reforms would expedite and restore objectivity to tort litigation. |
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http://www.nyc.gov/html/law/html/reform.html
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| | frontline: karl rove -- the architect: texas: tort reform in texas: rove's genius at work PBS |
| | If you have tort reform, and you have a news profile that basically slams your opposition -- in this case the trial bar; it makes them look like total sellouts, buying justice, buying the result on the court -- that is something that people can feel. | | | And of course, the trial lawyers, the tort lawyers, would come in behind this guy, and the corporate defense lawyers would take [on] the major oil company that was being sued. | | | This then would go up through the various lower courts, state courts and appellate courts. |
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http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/architect/texas/tort.html
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| | The Economic Benefits of Tort Reform |
| | The term "tort" broadly refers to any legal case (other than breach of contract) in which injuries are inflicted by the defendant. | | | In legal terms, a tort is a breach of a legal duty resulting in damages to another party. | | | Under the Moore-Gephardt reform, however, these additional damage awards would no longer be a part of the tort system in cases where defendants offer, unconditionally, to make injured parties whole, including providing for reasonable attorneys' fees. |
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http://www.house.gov/jec/tort/tort/tort.htm
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| | Nursing Homes: Tort reform reshapes assisted living landscape - Assisted Living Review |
| | A tort is a civil Ins opposed to criminal) wrong other than a breach of contract that causes injury for which a victim may sue and recover damages. | | | Finally, some reform legislation focuses on the collateral resource rule and whether a plaintiffs monetary recovery from an independent third party, such as an insurance company, should be considered when the plaintiffs claim is tried in court. | | | The GAO found that medical liability premiums in states with caps on noneconomic damages grew at a slower rate than the premiums in states without caps. |
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http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3830/is_1_53/ai_113055639
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| | ATRA :: Punitive Damages Reform |
| | Punitive damages reforms are needed in this country to rein in punitive damages “run wild,” and to curb the alarming trend of jackpot justice. | | | Despite evidence of punitive damages awards on the rise, opponents of punitive damages reform have argued that changes in the law are not needed, because headlinegrabbing awards are often reduced on appeal. | | | Punitive damages are not normal civil or tort law damages. |
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http://www.atra.org/show/7343
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| | Look Who's Behind 'Tort Reform' |
| | Tort actions at the state level—meaning personal-injury lawsuits, everything from product liability to traffic accidents to libel—have fallen 5 percent in nine years, according to the National Center for State Courts. | | | Thirty states have enacted civil justice “reform” in a two-year period. | | | Piggybacking on the campaign of an incumbent President—who made lawsuit restrictions a central part of his governorship in Texas—the tort reformers have seized on this election as their defining moment. |
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http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1006-22.htm
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| | Corp Reform - Not Tort Reform: What Is Tort Reform - And Why Is It Bad For The Public? |
| | I agree that tort reform is a must. | | | In that book, one definition offered of a tort is a “civil crime”; an act that is illegal, but is not criminal. | | | I happen to be the son of a lawyer, have worked in a law office, and can tell you right now that you have the same intellectual capacity of the stewed carrots I ate for dinner. |
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http://www.corpreform.com/corpreform/2003/10/what_is_tort_re.html
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| | Welcome to Texans for Lawsuit Reform |
| | While there is still serious work ahead of us on a number of fronts, including statutory reform, the TLR inspired legislative enactments of recent years have taken the Texas civil justice system from one that was deeply feared and widely ridiculed to one that now has a statutory basis for fairness and predictability. | | | The article takes the viewpoint that Texans for Lawsuit Reform has single-handedly manipulated the tort system in Texas to deprive injured Texans of their day in court. | | | Because the Legislature and most Texans have grown tired of hearing the shopworn claims of the plaintiff trial lawyers (and their trade group, the Texas Trial Lawyers Association or TTLA), the trial lawyers obviously needed a new friend—and have now found it in Texas Monthly. |
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http://www.tortreform.com
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| | Tort Deform, 4/25/2003 - The Texas Observer |
| | Or, as he in fact chose, he could back tort reform, and in exchange push an amendment that would provide for some rollback in insurance rates. | | | Plaintiffs&; attorneys believe the company is awaiting the outcome of tort reform at the Lege. | | | Another Mabry amendment would have deleted a passage that forbids attorneys from informing a jury when the conduct underlying a plaintiff& claim is also a criminal act under the Penal Code. |
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http://www.texasobserver.org/showArticle.asp?ArticleID=1329
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| | Democracy Now! Tort Reform: The Big Payoff for Corporations, Curbing the Lawsuits that Hold them Accountable |
| | The bill transfers most class-action lawsuits from state courts to more stringent federal courts and is the first in a package of changes to the tort system sought by the Bush administration. | | | The president won an an initial victory in tort reform yesterday when a bill sought by corporations to curb class action lawsuits advanced in the Senate. | | | The bill transfers most class action lawsuits from State Courts to more stringent Federal Courts, and is the first in a package of changes to the tort system sought by the Bush Administration. |
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http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/02/04/1537236
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| | AlterNet: Tort Deform |
| | Against this timely reminder of what the tort system is designed to deter or punish, the Senate voted for the "Class Action Fairness Act" (love those cute names they keep giving rotten bills) 72 to 26. | | | There is no "flood of frivolous lawsuits" &; in fact, tort claims are declining and only 2 percent of injured people ever sue for compensation to begin with. | | | Public Citizen did a study showing that corporations themselves file four times as many lawsuits as do individuals, and they are penalized much more often by judges for pursuing frivolous litigation. |
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http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/21270
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| | How to Fix The Tort System |
| | There are rare issues that need to be removed from the courts -- with all of their elaborate procedural rules -- and directed into specialized administrative tribunals. | | | The stakes transcend the narrow-sounding issue of tort law -- the body of precedents governing personal injuries. | | | But these countries don't ask their attorneys to engage in business regulation, and they have more restricted notions of individual rights. |
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http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_11/b3924601.htm
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| | OpinionJournal - Cross Country |
| | There is enough information, however, to state unequivocally that tort reform has made the Mississippi legal environment more fair, more predictable and less expensive. | | | Congress, too, is fighting out the issue in the form of proposed legislation to cap medical malpractice damage awards and to reform asbestosis litigation. | | | This change came about not only because the legislation provided that venues for lawsuits must be established independently for each plaintiff, but also because Mississippi Supreme Court decisions reinstated the traditional rules of joinder of plaintiffs. |
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http://www.opinionjournal.com/cc/?id=110007260
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| | Tort 'Reform' Triumphs |
| | On its face, the class-action bill is mere procedural tinkering, transferring from state to federal court actions involving more than $5 million where any plaintiff is from a different state from the defendant company. | | | The class-action bill is premised on the need to end supposedly rampant litigation abuses in state courts, where, it is claimed, plaintiff-friendly juries and corrupt judges team up to award damage "jackpots" that drive up consumer prices. | | | The GOP is hoping the almost total collapse of the Democrats on the Senate bill--eight Democrats co-sponsored it--means improved chances of passing a bill curbing asbestos suits and a reworked medical malpractice measure that caps damages for pain and suffering and drastically limits suits over dangerous drugs like Vioxx. |
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http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050307/zegart
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| | Tort Reform Press Page |
| | While much of the discussion focuses on the economic and legal matters surrounding tort reform, the Acton Institute is adding a perspective on the debate which is too often overlooked: the moral and civil society implications of litigiousness. | | | During the past several decades in the United States, tort law has undergone significant changes that, in practice, seriously diminish the opportunity to find resolution and justice. | | | Trial by Fury: Restoring the Common Good in Tort Litigation |
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http://www.acton.org/press/special/tortreform.html
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| | West Virginia Tort Reform Legislation |
| | Prohibits nonresidents from bringing actions in a state court unless all or a substantial part of the acts or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred in the state. | | | NAMIC does not present the information contained in this report as an exact and absolute portrayal of all tort reform-related laws that have been enacted in every state to date. | | | In the event the described limits are determined unconstitutional, maximum noneconomic damages may not exceed $1 million. |
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http://www.namic.org/reports/tortReform/stateWV.asp
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| | Tort Reform Daily |
| | Last year, in forty-eight states, over 400 legislative bills were introduced to deal with the crisis in one way or the other. | | | Personal injurty Lawyers are writing $25,000 and $100,000 checks in preparation for a possible Arizona ballot initiative on lawsuit reform. | | | But doctors haven’t done a good job presenting their case. |
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http://www.tortreformdaily.org
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| | Tort Reform |
| | Tort Reform a Hot Topic as Kerry-Edwards Stump in Ohio | | | Earlier this year, Congress passed the Class Action Fairness Act, the first of a planned series of laws designed to fulfill President Bush's re-election pledge to reform the litigation system and end lawsuit abuse. | | | In many cases, rectification can come about without appeal to authority.... |
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http://www.newsbull.com/forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=84
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| | Captain's Quarters Backup Site: Dean's Reversal on Tort Reform |
| | I have long maintained that until the legal profession and the news media are also afflicted with the increasingly severe consequences of a tort system that benefits few people outside the legal profession, there will be no return to a fair and reasonable system of justice. | | | He rails against the Republican proposal for tort reform, even though it delivers exactly what the doctor prescribed in 1988. | | | As a physician, I have been frustrated for years by the reluctance of state legislatures and the United States Congress to deal with liability problems of all kinds. |
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http://captained.blogs.com/captains_quarters/2003/12/deans_reversal_.html
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| | Tort Reform |
| | Over the past year and a half, the following states have tried to solve their state’s insurance problems by limiting injured consumers’ right to sue in court (so-called “tort reform”). | | | Texas: During the 2003 campaign for a “tort reform” referendum, ads promised rate cuts if caps were | | | After the referendum passed, major insurers requested rate hikes as high as 35 percent for |
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http://www.understandingyourrights.com/new_page_91.htm
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| | The Raw Story Tort reform: Bush helps Americans... into their graves |
| | The Republicans would like you to believe that the rising insurance premiums are punishing all doctors, but this is simply not the case. | | | He insisted that large jury damage awards as compensation for malpractice claims are driving up the rates of malpractice premiums so high that doctors are being forced to shut up shop. | | | Tort reform, and medical malpractice “reform,” has been a pet peeve of mine in the past, so indulge me in some number crunching: sixty-one percent of lawsuits brought alleging malpractice are dropped or dismissed, so the doctors win. |
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http://www.rawstory.com/exclusives/dara/tort_reform_010705.htm
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| | Lawsuit Abuse |
| | An elite group of greedy trial lawyers is exploiting our legal system and turning it into "jackpot justice." Over $163 billion is paid each year in damages and lawyers' fees related to tort lawsuits. | | | Ruling on auto aftermarket parts case is an important step towards legal reform. | | | S.5 will help bring justice back to our courts |
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http://www.freedomworks.org/informed/key_template.php?issue_it=2
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| | ProfessorBainbridge.com: Tort reform |
| | Sensible reforms to promote better justice for everyone involved in Illinois’ courts is warranted, overdue, and only stands to improve our civil justice system. | | | Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Tort reform: | | | The President is in my general neighborhood, the epicenter of tort reform controversy. |
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http://www.professorbainbridge.com/2005/01/tort_reform.html
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| | Just a Bump in the Beltway: Tort Reform |
| | This weblog is licensed under a Creative Commons License. | | | The proposal would cap medical malpractice awards at $250,000 per injured party -- effectively ending such suits, since the attorney's share of damages would barely cover the cost of trying the case. | | | Yet Republican congressional leaders, prodded by Bush's pledge to reform tort law, are expected to introduce legislation soon to prevent consumers from winning hefty damage awards from pharmaceutical companies if they're harmed by drugs and medical devices approved by the FDA. |
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http://www.node707.com/archives/002771.shtml
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| | Texas Department of Insurance Tort Reform Rate Reductions |
| | Participants in the LBJ School study confirmed that reforms in joint and several liability, venue, exemplary damages, medical malpractice and the DTPA have had an impact on litigation in the state. | | | Focus group participants also reported that although fewer new cases are being filed, insurers are taking more cases to trial. | | | Article 5.131 also requires that the commissioner of insurance hold a hearing on or before September 1 of each year to determine the percentage of equitable across-the-board reductions in insurance rates required of insurers writing lines and sublines of insurance addressed in article 5.131. |
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http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/commish/legal/lctortrptleg00.html
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| | Mythbuster! - - Glossary of "Tort Reforms" |
| | Adding to the already existing barriers to court that exist for injured consumers, "tort reforms" present a peril to both family safety and democracy in our country. | | | "Tort reforms," which often change centuries-old common law, directly interfere with the independence of our nation's civil justice system, tying the hands of judges and juries who hear the evidence in a case, and undermining our country's uniquely individualized system of justice. | | | GLOSSARY OF "Tort reforms" (or tort "deforms") are cruel laws that reduce the protections and rights our country provides to those who are injured by defective products, toxic chemicals, medical malpractice, and other wrongdoing. |
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http://www.centerjd.org/free/mythbusters-free/MB_glossary.htm
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| | Tort Reform is Dead on Arrival |
| | Contemporary perverse trends in tort law merely represent one aspect of a much broader perversion of our legal system. | | | Quote from Ohio Supreme Court ruling which declared Ohio's tort reform law unconstitutional, | | | According to Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE), state courts had declared "unconstitutional" 90 tort reform laws during the 16 years prior to November, 2000. |
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http://tempknak.home.att.net/TortReform.html
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| | Tort Reform -- Joint Economic Committee |
| | Lawsuits related to auto accidents are the most common type of tort litigation brought against businesses. | | | Improving the American Legal System: The Economic Benefits of Tort Reform (JEC Study -- March 1996) | | | Excessive liability insurance costs can easily bankrupt small businesses, most of whom have gross annual receipts under $25,000. |
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http://www.house.gov/jec/tort.htm
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| | Tort Reform |
| | · Escalating claims are driven by Pennsylvania’s legal situation that, without tort reform, will result in ever-higher claims and settlements. | | | This problem of skyrocketing medical malpractice insurance premiums must be solved by going after its roots--- the lack of legal reform in the Commonwealth. | | | If you do not know how to locate your State Representative (Do not call Senators as this Action Alert is for a House vote only!), use this web site and use the legislative locator or call the Chief Clerk’s office 717/ 787-2372 if your know who the person is but need the phone number. |
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http://www.pahu.org/Legislative/Tort_Reform.htm
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| | Tort Reform |
| | There is no valid reason to restrict your rights | | | According to the Capitol Report column published in the 6-12-05 Pauls Valley Daily Democrat, Governor Henry said tort reform legislation would be at the top of his agenda for the 2006 Legislature. | | | Patrick Carr CLICK HERE to get your Senator's name and phone number so you can call now to tell him or her that you oppose tort reform and the HB 2047 that just passed the House. |
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http://www.workingforyou.com/tortReform/default.php
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| | tort reform - Center for Media and Democracy |
| | Doroshow was asked if she would be interviewed for a talk show examining the issue of tort reform. | | | CW's hidden agenda is to dig up dirt at the state level for the corporate clients of its creator, a Washington, DC public relations firm called the State Affairs Company (SAC). | | | Conservative activist Grover Norquist, from Americans for Tax Reform, told Australian Financial Review journalist Tony Walker that three of his political priorities – tort reform, curtailing political contributions from unions, and promoting free trade – would have the combined effect of weakening support for the Democratic Party. |
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http://www.prwatch.org/taxonomy/term/114/9
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| | Tort Reform |
| | Finally, we have documented the failure of tort reform to decrease automobile insurance premiums in our report Texas Automobile Insurance Profitability, 1990 to 1997. | | | In 1996,1997 and 1998, the Texas Commissioner of Insurance touted huge consumer savings from the 1995 so-called tort reform legislation. | | | Our Fact vs. Fiction Report makes recommendations to Texas Commissioner Montemayor to tell consumers the truth about tort reform. |
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http://www.cej-online.org/tortrefo.php
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| | Bush pushes tort reform in Illinois - Politics - MSNBC.com |
| | “The United States Congress needs to pass real medical liability reform this year,” Bush said, slapping his lectern with an open palm to emphasize his point. | | | The county has been called the “judicial hellhole” of the nation by the American Tort Reform Association last year because of its reputation for huge awards won by plaintiffs. | | | “I believe the voters made their position clear on Election Day on medical liability reform,” Bush said, citing his re-election as evidence of support for a proposal that has passed the House but failed in the Senate. |
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6789233
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| | Tort Reform will Magnify Victims' Pain |
| | Its supporters call it "tort reform," and their core goal is to greatly reduce the amount that a jury can award as compensation for pain, suffering, a crippling injury or permanent disfigurement inflicted by an incompetent doctor or negligent hospital. | | | No, the main targets of so-called "tort reform" will be those whose loved one was killed by a doctor's gross incompetence, or those permanently paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair or a bed by a bad doctor, or who have suffered such serious brain damage that they have been reduced to little more than vegetables. | | | It will take the victims of the most serious cases of malpractice and will make them victims once again. |
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http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0401-04.htm
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