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Posted By: Reid Bruce

As an insurance defense attorney turned trial lawyer (and yes, a dreaded Mississippi trial lawyer at that), it pains me to always be on the defensive when it comes to attorney's fees. Would you criticize a business person for running a successful business or a stock broker for successfully investing money? Plaintiffs attorneys and class action attorneys are no different. They put up their own money and place it in an extremely risky situation TO HELP PEOPLE AND ACT AS A REGULATING FORCE. Yes, we make money...and we are the only profession who gets blasted for it constantly. Attorneys don't make that money automatically. Any trial lawyer worth his salt puts in 12 hour days, 6 days a week and lives through the incredible stress of having your client's livelihood hanging in the balance. Also, without effective regulation by the states or the federal government, it often falls upon trial lawyers to ensure that corporations don't commit fraud without consequences or pollute the environment without penalty. That is the purpose of punative damages, to deter future wrongful conduct. The bottom line is this, hate us all you want and continue to scream tort reform and class action reform. Just don't complain when your daughter or son is killed on an operating table and the worst thing you can do to the doctor afterwords is take his insurance company for $250,000.00 or less (about 1/3 of what the doctor makes in a year). You tell me if its worth it.