As an attorney, I knew it was coming, but still I was disappointed by the Tribune’s March 3 editorial bashing Rachael Barton’s lawyers for obtaining an award of $29.6 million for her. The Tribune then goes on to argue for legislation that would limit the amount of jury awards in tort cases.
Implicit in the Tribune’s position is the veiled criticism of the defense bar, and that is not welcome. The Tribune says, “Barton’s lawyers were free to shoot for the moon.” That is correct, but remember there are always two lawyers in the courtroom, and the defense lawyers were equally as capable and as free to persuade the jury that it should award absolutely nothing to Ms. Barton.
The solution is not to have the legislature limit the amount of verdicts but to allow both the plaintiff’s lawyers and the defense lawyers to argue their cases as strongly as they can to the jury. This is the American system, and the jury’s award should be accepted as a fair result.
