A Useful Site: Support Group for Lawyers With Depression
January 13, 2011
I have heard, I do not know, that trial attorneys are the ones most at risk to fall victim of depression, drug abuse and/or alcoholism. What I do know, is that I have heard of many trial lawyers suffering from this sort of diseases. It appears to be that it is simply a by-product of the type of work we do. This work is highly adversarial, highly contentious, petty and small things can get center-stage and become huge, anxiety about missing deadlines and due dates is ever present, errors that can occur as the result of being human consumes many attorneys into lying awake at night thinking about cases and on and on…
Once I was in the Daley Center, many years ago. I had recently graduated law school and I got onto the elevator going up. There was one other rider with me in the elevator and his body language told me that something was wrong, He was stooped forward, his head down, his clothes looked like he had slept in them… He did not look good. While pressing the button to the floor of his destination, he looked at me with eyes that were about to cry, and told me:”If I knew… I would have never chosen this profession.”
Steps to wellness: Lawyer launches Web site, support group for lawyers with depression (From The Buffalo Law Journal) “Lukasik has started the Web site www.lawyerswithdepression.com, and he also coordinated a support group for lawyers with depression that met for the first time June 1. Both resources are believed to be the first of their kind in New York state, and perhaps farther afield.”
We need something like this here in Illinois as well.
Irational Ideas!
April 12, 2010
Tort reform idea is in whose interests?
I have been reading that many who oppose the health care reform law do so because it takes power away from ordinary citizens and places decisions in the hands of government bureaucrats. Many of those people say that what is really needed is tort reform to stop large malpractice awards.
But advocating tort reform is saying that a jury of 12 ordinary people cannot be trusted to make a reasonable decision in a malpractice case, so government bureaucrats need to step in to correct them.
Let me get this straight. Government should not look over the shoulder of insurance companies (who have a vested interest in rates) but government should look over the shoulder of ordinary people (who have no vested interest in the outcome of a malpractice case)? Makes my head spin.
Rex Clemmensen
More Study Proving That Damage Cap Has No Effect On Insurance Premiums
April 2, 2010
SSRN-Damages Caps in Medical Malpractice Cases by Leonard Nelson, Michael Morrisey, Meredith Kilgore
This article reviews the empirical literature on the effects of damages caps and concludes that the better-designed studies show that damages caps reduce liability insurance premiums. The effects of damages caps on defensive medicine, physicians location decisions, and the cost of health care to consumers are less clear. The only study of whether consumers benefit from lower health insurance premiums as a result of damages caps found no impact. Some state courts have based decisions declaring damages caps legislation unconstitutional on the lack of evidence of their effectiveness, thereby ignoring the findings of conflicting research studies or discounting their relevance. Although courts should be cautious in rejecting empirical evidence that caps are effective, legislators should consider whether they benefit consumers enough to justify limiting tort recoveries for those most seriously injured by malpractice.
Hot Coffee – The Movie
March 31, 2010
[wpvideo FxJKcmAa]
“Hot Coffee reveals what really happened to Stella Liebeck, the Albuquerque woman who spilled coffee on herself and sued McDonald’s, while exploring how and why the case garnered so much media attention, who funded the effort and to what end. After seeing this documentary film, you will decide who really profited from spilling hot coffee.”
Proposed Healtcare Plans: A Side by Side Comparison
February 24, 2010
Best Holiday Wishes!!
December 24, 2009
May you all have a happy and healthy season this year!
Health Insurance Stock At Highest Levels In A Year
December 22, 2009
Health Insurance Stock At Highest Levels In A Year
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZcacHz6sm4]
Kill the Public Option and the Health Insurance Industry’s stocks soar!!! Obviously, the Insurance Industry cares a lot about the Public Option and even more obviously than that, it would have created a real competition without which, the profits will continue to soar!
Time To End Anti-Trust Exemption For the Insurance Industry
December 14, 2009
Sen. Leahy on Taking Away Insurance Cos. Anti-trust Exemption; Wants Public Option
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPnMaO6-ny4]
No one knows why the Insurance Industry has an exemption from the rules of Capitalism to allow the forces of the market to set the price. It is time that Insurance Industry’s exemption from the anti-trust laws.
