The Washington Legal Foundation recently published a very good backgrounder by attorneys Victor Schwartz and Phil Goldberg that raises new warnings about the dangers of the unholy alliance between state governments and members of the trial bar – this time in Florida.

Messrs. Schwartz and Goldberg write that Florida Governor Charlie Crist has recently invited mass tort lawyers to investigate the insurance industry in Florida. But, they point out, Florida’s State Insurance Commissioner, Florida’s Attorney General and Florida’s Legislature have all the power they need for any investigation. However:

Using private litigation in place of this regulatory regime, as former United States Secretary of Labor Robert Reich has said, is “faux legislation, which sacrifices democracy.” Its methods are Machiavellian: the threat of massive litigation is supposed to scare insurers to sell policies for dimes on the dollar, regardless of the actual cost of writing these policies.

While state agencies and legislators work to advance the public interest, trial lawyers seek only “to maximize their own profits” in the form of contingency fees. Governors need to beware the pitfalls of ceding the power of the state to mass tort lawyers.