Personal Injury Court Awards

Thank you for the article by Maura Dolan (Nov. 26) reflecting the realities of plaintiffs’ attempts to secure justice in personal injury cases.

The legal profession has done poorly in communicating to the public how the system works or fails to work. Good plaintiffs’ attorneys cannot afford to take cases that are undeserving because they place their own time and money at risk.

Discretion is available to judges when juries hand down awards that are unfair and abusive. In the meantime, massive propaganda campaigns have too often persuaded an unsophisticated public to deny the only access to the courts that the poorer and middle classes have traditionally possessed, by voting for greater restriction of that access.

Of course there are some abuses, but there are other ways to handle them within the system.

I.C. BLACK

Newport Beach

* The article underscores the need for reform of our civil justice system. In the current system, everybody loses. Deserving plaintiffs recover less than 50 cents of each dollar awarded. Innocent defendants faced with the threat of an outsized verdict are forced to spend more on defense than they would if reasonable award limits were in place, or forced to settle because they can’t afford to fight.

The only ones who really win in the current system are the lawyers bringing the suits.

SARAH F. CHEAURE

Executive Director

Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse

Torrance