Guest Speaker Steve Forbes
ETALA is honored to present guest speaker Steve Forbes at Pinecrest Country Club on the evening of April, 9th 2010. A book signing will be held prior to the dinner.
For more information and to purchase tickets call 903.234.8300.
Stop Lawsuit Abuse
“Death Penalty” Sanctions
The Emerging Business Threat Of Civil ‘Death Penalty' Sanctions
From the Washington Legal Foundation
By Sherman "Tiger" Joyce
September 11, 2009 (Vol. 18 No. 21)
The civil justice system's ultimate sanction is to strike a party's pleadings, which nullifies any defense a party has to a lawsuit regardless of the merits of the underlying claims. We call this sanction the "civil death penalty" because it takes away the constitutional right to defend oneself. Traditionally, this "civil death penalty" has been the sanction of last resort, reserved only for the most egregious conduct, when no other sanction will work.
The Cost
Lawsuit Abuse costs America $865 billion annually, and additional healthcare spending due to legal system abuse alone totals $124 billion annually according to a recent study by the Pacific Research Institue of San Francisco, California..
The cost of lawsuit abuse is 27 times more than the federal government spends on homeland security, 30 times what the national Institute of Health dedicates to finding cures for deadly diseases, and 13 times the amount the U.S. Department of Education spends to help educate America's children.
Legal Consumer Tips
- Don't believe everything you see in an ad
- Don't hire a lawyer who solicits you without permission
- Make sure you understand what you are paying for
- Know how you can fire a lawyer
- Check your lawyers record
- Know your options
- Talk to more than one lawyer
- Be aware of referral fee arrangements
