Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York

LRANY Responds to Governor Cuomo’s State of the State Address

jon.pierce — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 19:04:06 +0000

STATEMENT FROM FRANCESCA SOMMER
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
OF THE
LAWSUIT REFORM ALLIANCE OF NEW YORK

“Governor Cuomo’s State of the State address today pointed to a number of areas which need to be addressed to help turn around our economy and restore people’s faith in New York.

Unfortunately, ignoring the need to reform our antiquated and burdensome lawsuit system will severely restrict our ability to rebuild New York.

With a lawsuit system ranked by Pacific Research institute (PRI) as the third worst in the nation adding layers and layers of costs to municipal governments, businesses, farmers and health care providers it is no wonder that we are faced with higher taxes, lost jobs and higher priced and less available health care.

Governor Cuomo, one thing is very clear: Real reform of New York must also include lawsuit reform.

The Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York has a nine-point platform to help reform our lawsuit system and get our economy jumpstarted. The PRI study found that lawsuit reform in New York would create 86,000 new jobs for each reform or create more than 720,000 jobs total for all nine reforms; raise production of goods and services by $17 billion, increase annual tax revenues by over a billion dollars, and reduce health care costs by $11.4 billion per year.

Information about our plan is available at www.NineWaysToFixNewYork.com.

We look forward to working with Governor Cuomo and the leadership of both sides of the legislature to implement these crucial reforms.

# # #

The Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York (LRANY) is a broad based coalition of hardworking New York business leaders, health care professionals, local government leaders and consumers who are committed to changing New York’s burdensome and expensive legal system to help create more jobs and energize our State’s economy.

Great Articles!

jon.pierce — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 19:33:46 +0000

We’re thrilled that even more people are paying attention to our efforts to reform New York’s antiquated lawsuit system. Click here to see an “advertorial” which recently ran in The Capitol magazine and click here to see a column which ran in the Albany Times Union.

There’s more big news coming about our organization. Stay tuned!

New Study: Tort Reform Necessary to Cutting Health Care Costs

jon.pierce — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 17:30:45 +0000

A trade group representing medical professional liability insurance companies pointed to a new study indicating that physicians practicing defense medicine cost the U.S. health system $45 billion annually.

The Physician Insurers Association of America said the study in the September 2010 issue of Health Affairs also found that total costs related to medical liability account for more than $55 billion, and the practice of defense medicine constituted 80 percent of that cost.

Click here to see the full article.

NY Post Editorial: “It will be a wonder if New Yorkers manage to keep any of their money away from the trial lawyers.”

jon.pierce — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 18:09:53 +0000

Today’s New York Post editorial. We couldn’t agree more.

Yes. It Really Is This Bad.

jon.pierce — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:16:27 +0000

Those of us who work in and around the State Capital are often asked if the media reports and our whining are really exagerations. As today’s (June 18, 2010) New York Post’s editorial points out, it really is that bad. In a State without a budget and without a plan to pay its bills in the future, New York’s leaders are looking for a way to give more money to the personal injury trial lawyers.

Click here to see the article.

Lawsuit Reform STILL Not on the Table

jon.pierce — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 17:18:42 +0000

Here’s an article from Crain’s New York Business which points to the fact that Governor’s proposals to fix the medical malpractice program still don’t include tort reform.

Governor Paterson Considering Giving Personal Injury Trial Lawyers a Massive Payday

jon.pierce — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:13:33 +0000

Governor Paterson is considering giving New York’s personal injury trial lawyers a massive payday which will raise insurance rates and make health care more expensive and potentially less accessible.

Media reports are begining to surface about the Governor’s plan to remove the State’s cap on legal fees for medical malpractice lawsuits.

Read the New York Post article by clicking here.

New Yorkers for Lawsuit Reform strongly opposes this idea because of the devastating effect it will have on our more-than-fragile economy and health care system. We will be working on behalf of all New Yorkers to ensure that this poorly conceived idea does not move forward. This is, plain and simple, a money grab by New York’s personal injury trial lawyers.

In fact, NYLR is looking to extend the schedule of caps on legal fees currently used for medical malpractice cases to other types of legal actions in order to ensure that victims — not personal injury trial lawyers — are compensated for their injuries.

We strongly supports A.10695, a bill introduced by Assemblyman Felix Ortiz (D-Brooklyn) that would limit the amount of money that personal injury trial lawyers can take from victims. As stated in the bill memorandum of support, limitations help to assure that a plaintiff is fairly compensated for his or her injury, and that major parts of the awards are not diverted to pay what are often huge attorney fees in addition to all other disbursements that a suing plaintiff must reimburse their attorney.

This has been a major issue recently as the families of the victims of the World Trade Center disaster have seen hundreds of millions of dollars which should go to them and their families, be diverted to attorneys. At one time, the lawyers proposed receving more than a quarter of a billion dollars but recently “settled” for about half that amount.

“The rescue workers on Ground Zero at the World Trade Center helped us recover from one of the worst tragedies this nation has ever experienced. They sacrificed their health on a daily basis and inhaled toxic dusts from the debris of WorldTradeCenter. They are our true heroes who should not be taken advantage of. If anyone should be compensated, it is these workers who are the shining examples of what our citizens represent: unity, hard work and diligence,” stated Assemblyman Ortiz.

In the coming days, NYLR will be sending you more information about this dangerous proposal to give New York’s personal injury trial lawyers even more money and Albany influence. It will be critical for all of us to let our legislators know that we do not support giving more money to the personal injury trial lawyers.

Alaska Ranks Number One Because of Tort Reform

jon.pierce — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:22:20 +0000

Check out this article in the New York Post arguing — again — that New York adopt commonsense lawsuit reform.

NY Times Questions AG Donations

jon.pierce — Wed, 19 May 2010 16:28:31 +0000

Today’s New York Times reports on the troubling trend of donations to AG candidate Kathleen Rice from individuals and organizations connected to Weitz & Luxenberg — known here in the Capitol as “Speaker Silver’s law firm.”

Note, also, the quote from NYLR:

Jon Pierce, a spokesman for New Yorkers for Lawsuit Reform, an advocacy group supported by business leaders and doctors’ groups, criticized Weitz & Luxenberg’s donations to the Rice campaign. “This is another example of the trial lawyers in New York State trying to increase their already significant influence in Albany,” Mr. Pierce said.

NYLR Seeks Applicants for Executive Director Position

jon.pierce — Wed, 12 May 2010 11:13:25 +0000

Company:

New Yorkers for Lawsuit Reform

Location:

Albany, NY

Position: Executive Director, New Yorkers for Lawsuit Reform, a broad-based coalition that seeks to implement comprehensive tort reform in the State of New York (nylawsuitreform.org/ ).

Duties:

Define the agenda and gain buy-in from stakeholders for comprehensive tort reform.
Present multi-year strategic plans to meet stated objectives and goals.
Chief spokesperson for coalition on issues;
Advocate before all branches of government;
Effective interaction and regular presence at NY State Capitol;
Maintain strong relationships with national tort reform groups;
Raise funds to support tort reform efforts in New York;
Manage staff and as well external resources;
Administer annual budget;
Foster membership growth through a mix of public relations and grassroots activities, including the recruitment of local champions for tort reform.

Qualifications:

Management, administrative and budget experience;
Highly skilled in government relations/legislative advocacy and issues management;
Highly organized, creative, resourceful, able to set priorities, develop consensus among diverse group of members;
Skilled in media outreach, legislative testimony, written and oral communications;
Strong track record of running a member organization preferred;
Fundraising experience would also be a plus.

Compensation: Competitive salary and benefits commensurate with experience. Applicants may send confidential inquiry and resume to jobs@nylawsuitreform.org All inquiries will be kept confidential. NYLR is an equal opportunity employer.