POLITICAL ISSUE #305: EXCESSIVE LEGAL COSTS

PRESENT CONDITION: Legal costs are consuming an increasing share of America's GNP and a much higher share than in other equally civilized countries.

DIRECTION OF IMPROVEMENT: Legal costs as a fraction of GNP need to be stablized and then reduced.

ISSUE JUSTIFICATION: The civil and criminal justice systems serve the vital roles of adjudicating civil disputes and prosecuting/defending individuals accused of criminal acts. The public personnel (judges, public attorneys, court personnel etc) and private personnel (private attorneys etc) who administer this system play an important role in maintaining the order and unity of American society. However when legal costs (or for that matter the costs for any single social activity) get out of hand, they seriously impact American prosperity by diverting resources needed for other essential productive efforts.

AUTHOR: UWSA SANTA CLARA CO EMAIL:humphrey@aimnet.com

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BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Provide four year college programs followed by a two year apprenticeship leading to a license as a non-trial attorney in specific specialities (e.g. business law, wills, patents, estates, taxes etc.).

JUSTIFICATION: Many other countries have two levels of professional legal services:a basic level for non-trial work and more highly trained level for trial work. The American system of a single level of legal service 1) vastly overcharges the American people for most routine legal services 2) denies many Americans access to legal services and 3) denies competent Americans the opportunity to pursue a career providing basic legal services to the public. The multi hundred dollar an hour rate commonly charged by attorneys in America is totally outrageous for the vast majority of the legal work they perform. Most of these non-trial or pretrial legal services could be competently performed by much less highly trained and more modestly paid legal professionals. Allowing these individuals to be licensed and independent will break the monopoly that trial lawyers currently hold on legal services in America.

AUTHOR: UWSA SANTA CLARA CO EMAIL:humphrey@aimnet.com

OPTIONS FOR SOLUTION # 305.1 NON-TRIAL ATTORNEYS

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SOLUTION DEFINITION STATEMENT
FOR
SOLUTION # 305.2 BUDGETS FOR CRIMINAL TRIALS

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: State and federal court systems would be required to establish both financial and time budgets for criminal trials. These budgets would be designed to balance a defendant's right to a fair trial with society's cost for conducting such a trial. The longer the sentence for the accused crime, the larger the budget for the trial. Judges would be allowed to use discretion of individual trials, but the average for the last 10 trials would be required to meet the mandated budget.

JUSTIFICATION: Our ideal of perfect justice has led to the present system of never ending procedural delays and runaway judicial costs. Without any social restaint on costs, the participants in the present criminal justice system are motivated both by their social interest in justice and by their personal career interests to make the system as complicated and expensive as possible.

AUTHOR: UWSA SANTA CLARA CO EMAIL:humphrey@aimnet.com

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SOLUTION DEFINITION STATEMENT
FOR
SOLUTION # 305.3 PROFESSIONAL DAMAGE ASSESSMENT

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Civil court systems would provide professional damage assessment in all civil suits. The court would hear testimony and collect records from both the plaintiff and the defendant to professionally and consistently determine the amount of civil damages for each party for the dispute in question. This task would not address blame, but simply document the amount of the damages.

JUSTIFICATION: Asking a jury or even a single judge to determine damages in a civil action results in widely variable awards that are too strongly determined by both the skills of the plaintiff and defense attorneys and by the amount of money and court time each side spends on a trial. Providing a pretrial professsional damage assessment would reduce America's legal expenses by 1) reducing attorney expenses trying to inflate or reduce the amount of the damages and by 2) encouraging both parties to settle out of court since the damages have been fixed and the only purpose fo the trial is to assess blame.

AUTHOR: UWSA SANTA CLARA CO EMAIL:humphrey@aimnet.com

OPTIONS FOR SOLUTION # 305.3 PROFESSIONAL DAMAGE ASSESSMENT

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SOLUTION DEFINITION STATEMENT
FOR
SOLUTION # 305.4 PROPORTIONAL CIVIL COURT SETTLEMENTS

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: All civil court settlements shall establish a fractional blame split between the plaintiff and the defendant (e.g. 10%/90% or 40%/60% or 70%/30% etc.) and no longer simply find for either the plaintiff or the defendant. Each party shall then be liable for their percentage times the sum of the damages and the court costs of the other party.

JUSTIFICATION: The present civil justice system produces both too many and too many frivolous civil actions. The winner take all system rewards attorneys who win even if their client is only 51% right. A proportional settlement encourages out of court settlements, discourages lengthy trials (which would only serve to gain a few additional points in assessed blame) and discourages frivolous suits which could actually cost the plaintiff money.

AUTHOR: UWSA SANTA CLARA CO EMAIL:humphrey@aimnet.com

OPTIONS FOR SOLUTION # 305.4 PROPORTIONAL CIVIL COURT SETTLEMENTS

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