Prejudgment Interest: The Answer to "Why is this taking so long?"
February 5, 2009

"Why is this taking so long?" That is a question that a plaintiff's personal injury lawyer hears quite often. Personal injury lawyers work on a contingent fee basis. That is, the lawyer does not get paid unless and until the client gets paid. Therefore a plaintiff's lawyer never has motivation for delay. For our opponents, the insurance carriers, it seems that the opposite is true. In many cases insurance companies "reserve" the maximum limits of their exposure shortly after the case is opened, but
manage to avoid paying anything to the injury victim for years. Rumor has it that one company had an unoffical motto of "Deny, Delay, Don't Pay."

Now, there is a bill pending in the state senate that would award pre-judgment interest to injury victims in some cases. Under Senate Bill 184, the Defendant would have 120 days following receipt of notice to make a settlement offer. If a judgment in favor of plaintiff following trial later exceeded the Defendant's offer, then the Defendant would owe the Plaintiff pre-judgment interest from the date of the offer on the difference between the offer and the final verdict.

The proposed law allowing prejudgment interest was proposed by the Illinois State Bar Association. Similar laws have been enacted in 16 other states. This new law would make defendants and their representatives think twice about refusing to make an offer just for the sake of delay. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Trial Lawyers and World Peace
January 1, 2008

Over the holidays, I was explaining what I do as a litigation attorney to my younger daughter. She said, "I'm happy for you being a lawyer, but I'm afraid that it's contrary to my dreams of world peace." "Actually," I replied, "nothing could be further from the truth." Trial lawyers and world peace go hand-in-hand.

There will always be disputes - disputes amongst citizens, disputes between people and their government, disputes within families, disputes between businesses. Disputes will always arise. Fair, orderly, dispute resolution -justice- keeps our society peaceful.

Granted, our system is not perfect. Not even close. But it very well may be the best system ever devised by mankind.

In our system, everyone has unlimited access to the courts; rules governing the courts are made by our elected representatives; rule-keepers (judges) are elected by the the citizens; and the citizens are the ultimate decision makers (juries).

I oppose any restriction on the right of juries to decide any criminal or civil dispute. We all should. Legislation to protect the negligent, corporate wrong-doers, and profiteering insurance carriers only restricts justice for ordinary people. I prefer to trust twelve of my peers to listen to the facts and get it right.

If we can trust in each other, we can continue to dream of world peace.