Friday, September 3, 2010

Making it Easier to Sue!

Rumors abound of a plan to revise the federal tax code in such a way that will benefit those poor, struggling plaintiff's attorneys. A bill introduced by Arlen Specter, currently being bandied about Congress, would allow personal injury lawyers to deduct costs accrued during the pre-trial and trial phases of a claim.

Previously, in contingency cases, attorneys would have to front the costs of a major case themselves, and then hope to recoup that investment with a jackpot jury award. This risk assumed by the personal injury lawyer acted to curb the number of frivolous lawsuits submitted. Allowing the lawyers to deduct these costs shifts the financial burden onto the federal government to some extent. Moral hazard is enjoined.

From the Washington Legal Foundation's Walter Schwartz:
If Senator Specter’s proposed modification of the Internal Revenue Code succeeds, the federal government will, for all intents and purposes, share in the cost and risk of bringing the initial litigation. Under current and certainly potential future tax laws, this could be as much as 40% of the cost of bringing litigation.


That's just fantastic.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

can i deduct my charity work that I do in the ER that would be really nice, just place it at Fair market value and that would be fine.

Anonymous said...

You Know what I'd like to do with America's 1.2 million Lawyers???
And don't give me any of that "My Lawyer's Different" crap, My Defense Attorney charged me for 0.3 hrs at $450/hr when I just asked him who he thought would win the SEC East, he had to check the Appellate Reviews, etc etc, then he's got the nerve to hit me up for a Z-pack...
You know where those Miners are trapped in Chile??? Put em There, but without the Food and Water the Miners are getting...

Frank "The Only Good Lawyer is a Dead Lawyer" Drackman

#1 Dinosaur said...

My state's idiotic lame duck senator tries to leave the gift that will give on giving. On behalf of Pennsylvania, I apologize.

Michael Kirsch, M.D. said...

The collusion between congress and the plaintiff's bar deepens. My respect for Spector evaporated when he morphed into a Democrat for transparent and admitted political reasons.