Clinton should target greedy lawyers' fees

6/27/1994

It comes as no surprise that the architects of the Clinton health plan, lawyers and other bureaucrats without medical training, will be dictating how medicine will be practiced, how much doctors will be allowed to charge and who will be allowed to practice what specialty of medicine. Nowhere do I see concern by the administration for the proliferation of lawyers, how much they will earn and what specialty they will practice.

The Clintons seem to ignore that there are lawyers who are greedy when one can become a millionaire virtually fsovernight by being on the right side of a single case. It is my understanding that lawyers typically get approximately one third of the jury award plus expenses. Look at Rodney King's lawyer, who will probably pocket more than $1 million of the $3.8 million settlement. With this type of fee schedule, can you blame him for feeling disappointed when King lost his multimillion dollar claim for punitive damages?

Yes, there are some problems with the medical profession but why not also target the legal profession, which completes the vicious circle of escalating prices? Follow the money trail -- win or lose the case, lawyers always win! Howard M. Berlin Wilmington