By Ezra
This LA Times debunking of mythical lawsuits is the best piece on tort issues I've read in a major paper in the last year. I just exited a class where the teacher taught almost solely through the lens of a few weird, anomalous court cases, cases that either didn't seem to exist or he radically misinterpreted. That, unfortunately, is the same level on which the tort reform debate operates -- scare stories about criminals tripping on sideway cracks and grannies fleecing fast food chains for millions because they didn't know coffee was hot.
It's crap. All of it. It's crap in the context of malpractice, and it's crap here. And major props to the LA Times for pointing that out. It's a reality check that's long overdue, and they couched it in an article that's both comprehensive and entertaining. Read it.