The Importance of Getting the Right Judges
June 30, 2010
In a recent address, Patrick Hanlon of the University of California-Berkley School of Law noted that “critical tort reform” has helped reduce frivolous litigation, but – perhaps unintentionally – pointed out the importance of getting the right judges on the bench.
According to Hanlon:
“ … plaintiffs and their lawyers are still able to pick the best forum for favorable judges and juries sympathetic to their cases and more inclined to side with them in their tort actions. ‘Surprisingly, overall, judges seem to have had a much greater impact than the juries have in creating anti-business litigation environments,’ he pointed out.”
Could there possibly be a better argument for why businesses and their advocates should fight schemes like “merit” selection, which typically give legal special interests such as trial lawyers enhanced power to decide who will control our courts?
Posted by Dan Pero in the categories: Judicial Elections, Tort Reform, Trial Lawyers
One Response to “The Importance of Getting the Right Judges”
This is so true. In Ohio, tort reform was repeatedly declared unconstitutional until we elected 2 new Supreme Court justices. Several years with tort reform has eased the crisis here in northern Ohio. We physicians still endure frivolous lawsuits, but less than we did previously. See http://www.MDWhistleblower.blogspot.com under Legal Quality category.