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My new hero is columnist Margaret Carlson, who writes for Bloomberg News. This is hardly a publication for pro-justice types, but read what she had to say, here. The quote I like the best? It has to be this one:

In practice, tort reform has proved to be just another corporate protection racket. Today, with House Republicans eager to vote for nationwide liability caps, consider this: Do we want a system in which a jury can send a man to death but is prohibited from awarding Colin Gourley the care he needs to have a decent life?

Colin Gourley is the unfortunate young man who was the victim of birth trauma in Nebraska. His story was featured in the "Hot Coffee" documentary. Because of Nebraska malpractice caps, the taxpayers have to pay for Colin’s care through the Medicaid system. They have done so for years, because Nebraska’s Republican sponsored tort reform legislation rendered the Gourley’s medical bill recovery (past and future) inadequate for his needs.

Now, if you are a Republican, why would you support candidates who shift the burden of responsibility from the private wrongdoer to the innocent public? I thought you didn’t want to pay more in taxes. Aren’t you for smaller government? Aren’t you for less handouts, even to corporate types? Aren’t you for separation of powers? Do you want the legislative branch of government infringing on the judicial branch?

Back to Margaret Carlson; you may remember her from her 15 year stint on the "Capital Gang". I invite everyone reading this post to go to the link and comment on Margaret’s article. Money talks, but the voice of the people scares the hell out of political hacks; they will vote the way the wind blowing and if the wind is blowing in the favor of justice and they appear "anti-justice", they will suffer.

I attended the AAJ Convention this weekend and met and schmoozed with several great InjuryBoard and non-InjuryBoard lawyers. InjuryBoard is a terrific forum to get your pro-justice voice heard. Those of my brother and sister trial lawyers who are members of InjuryBoard, I urge you to blog, frequently and loudly, about these topics. Every time we see an anti-lawyer, anti-justice, alert or article, we should write 1000 times in response and bury their lying crap down to page 500. Those of you who are not members of InjuryBoard, I encourage you to consider membership. It is a tremendous opportunity to give a face to your practice and a voice to your convictions. There is strength in numbers. The greater our number, the louder our voice. We are trial lawyers; we fight for a living. Isn’t it time we fought for our livelihood, our clients, our constitutional rights (particularly the 7th Amendment which guarantees every citizen’s right to a jury trial in civil cases) and our justice system?

Trial lawyers: Unite! Drown everything these bastards say in an avalanche of InjuryBoard blog posts. If not InjuryBoard (which I think is the best forum for this kind of effort), then find a place to air your concerns. Find your own voice, your own forum. Start a blog, find a relevant blog site, but let your voice be heard throughout the land. A good place to start is to pen a comment to Margaret Carlson’s terrific article. Let her feel some of the love and let the anti-justice forces know that they are in for the fight of their lives.

Mark M. Bello is the owner and founder of Lawsuit Financial Corporation where he is instrumental in providing legal finance cash flow solutions and consulting when necessity of life lawsuit funding is needed during litigation. Mr. Bello has thirty-four years experience as a trial lawyer and 13 years as an underwriter and situational analyst in the litigation funding industry. Mr. Bello is a sustaining and Justice Pac member of the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association, Justice Pac member of the American Association for Justice, Member of the American and Michigan Bar Associations, Member of the Public Justice Foundation, out-of-state member of the Mississippi Association for Justice and a business associate of the Florida Justice Association, Tennessee Association for Justice, Central Ohio Association for Justice and the Consumer Attorneys of California. He is also a proud member of the InjuryBoard.

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