Vanquish
Vanquisher of shills
- Aug 14, 2009
- 2,663
- 358
- 98
http://southfield.injuryboard.com/m...us-constitutional-rights.aspx?googleid=290694
Loser pays may sound like a reasonable concept, but losing a case does not mean the plaintiff brought a frivolous lawsuit. The loser pays philosophy mistakenly assumes otherwise. Litigation costs by a corporate defendant must be matched by the plaintiff.
A corporate defendant can easily afford loser pays; a system heavily biased against the average citizen. Big businesses often have insurers to finance their litigation expenses; they can simply outspend a plaintiff, eventually forcing an early, low-ball, settlement. If the plaintiff is able to stay the course through financial assistance from lawsuit funding or other means, he/she can still lose.
And, Texas loser pays goes off the injustice charts like no other loser pays legislation ever has. You see, most loser pays legislation tries to appear reasonable or fair by applying to both side of the litigation. In most cases, even though the vast economic disparity between plaintiffs and defendants always make loser pays legislation unfair, at least legislators cover their elective butts and seek to apply it to both plaintiffs and defendants. But not Rick Perry; not Texas legislators! Their pro-business, anti-citizen slant is so blatant, that they dont even attempt to create the appearance of citizen fairness.
How, you ask? Because in Texas, loser pays only applies to the plaintiff in a lawsuit. Thats right; you read it correctly. What loser pays really means is that the insurance company who denies a claim or makes a low-ball offer will NEVER PAY litigation costs regardless of their negligence on deliberate wrong-doing. It permits them to recover litigation costs in all lawsuits by allowing recovery against winning or losing plaintiffs. If the corporate defendant puts forth a frivolous defense; if it ties up fair resolution for years with frivolous appeals and then loses, even if it misbehaves in its claims handling process, it doesnt have to pay a cent of the plaintiffs costs and fees! Loser pays will block any chance for Texans to go to court and seek fair compensation, but does not apply, at all, to corporate defendants; does that sound fair to you?