As California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sees his time in office coming to a close, he’s trying to reignite a debate that has been fought decades and impacts class action lawsuit, from medical malpractice to personal injury.

The Sacramento Bee reported that Schwarzenegger includes this issue as a component of his economic stimulus package by supporting reforms in tort law that hurt personal injury cases.  The governor wanted to reduce the amount of ”frivolous lawsuits that kill jobs.”

Our firm’s San Diego personal injury lawyers are worried that this “tort war” will do more harm than good because those injured in car accidents or by negligent doctors will have their lawsuits capped for the amount of damages they can collect to help pay for their medical bills.

Governor Schwarzenegger wants to place restrictions on these suits, coming to bat for business groups who have lobbied for tightening the belt around personal injury lawsuits for years.  Former governor Jerry Brown capped pain and suffering damages in 1975 when he signed the medical malpractice law.

The governor is calling for restrictions to be placed on the amount of punitive damages that can be awarded in class-action lawsuits and protect manufacturers of defective commodities from product liability lawsuits.

In the past, Republican governors in California have repeatedly killed tort bills proposed by the lobby group for trail lawyers, Consumer Attorneys of California.  Many times the group lobbies for proposals to the state Democratic Legislature only to see it not make it past the governor’s office.

The personal injury lawyers in San Diego who work at our firm are worried that this tort war might have profits over people in mind, meaning that money is taken into consideration over people who might be hurt.  Our hope is that the governor and his office will make keep the health of the people of their state in mind when waging this tort war.

If you were injured in a car accident that wasn’t your fault and believe that you deserve compensation, then call our bilingual law offices right away at 1-800-655-6585 or click here for a FREE consultation with an experienced auto accident attorney in San Diego and find out how we can help you.  We look forward to providing good advice for your case.  There is no cost for your initial consultation, and there are no fees until we recover a fair auto accident settlement.

About Michael Pines

Michael Pines is a former insurance company attorney who specializes in car accident injury. While he was an insurance attorney, he learned from behind the scenes on how insurance companies work and how they decided to pay injured people. Now that he works against insurance companies, Michael's inside knowledge has resulted in significant benefits to his clients injured in car accidents.