Prior to joining Page Perry in April 2009, Craig Jones represented victims of medical malpractice and other plaintiffs in significant tort litigation. Here is Jones’ response to an editorial that appeared in the September 29, 2009 Wall Street Journal titled “Why Medical Malpractice is Off Limits”:
The best control on frivolous litigation is the free market system. A medical malpractice suit starts with the plaintiff’s lawyer hiring an expert at several hundred dollars an hour to review reams of medical records and give an opinion about whether the care was negligent. That expert’s opinion is then met by three or four defense experts from varying specialties, similarly paid by the doctor’s malpractice insurer, who are in turn are deposed by the plaintiff’s lawyers at a cost that typically exceeds $1,000 per hour once the experts and court reporters are paid, and whose testimony must then be rebutted by specialists hired by the plaintiff. The costs add up fast, but they ensure that only the most meritorious cases get brought.
A plaintiff’s lawyer has no incentive to spend $100,000 of his money and $250,000 worth of his time unless there is a strong probability that a jury will find liability and award significant damages. Juries do not assess damages against doctors unless there is a significant injury and strong evidence of medical negligence. Jurors who have been taken from their jobs and families for a week or longer are just not going to be unanimously moved to give money to someone they don’t know unless that person has suffered a catastrophic outcome that was clearly avoidable. Caps on damages have no effect on meritless claims, they only harm those who are most in need of compensation.
In “Why Medical Malpractice is Off Limits,” Philip K. Howard sounds the oft-repeated refrain that trial lawyers are villains, but those of us who represent the injured are entrepreneurs in the purest sense. Howard’s assertion that 54 cents of the malpractice dollar goes to lawyers and administrative costs is actually a testament to how well the system serves doctors, because that money is all going to the defense of doctors rather than the payment of claims. Plaintiff’s lawyers get paid by their clients, and then only if there is a successful recovery. Fortunately for malpractice insurers, most cases are won by the doctors even though a plaintiff’s lawyer believed in the case enough to make the necessary investment of time and money. Based on sheer economics, the vast majority of malpractice cases never get brought in the first place.”
Jones has submitted the foregoing views in a letter to the Wall Street Journal that he hopes will be published so that all views on the subject can be heard. While the emphasis of Jones’ practice, like that of Page Perry as a whole, is the representation of investors who have been financially harmed by unscrupulous brokers and advisors, he continues to handle the occasional catastrophic injury claim where liability is clear and the victim deserves significant compensation.