by Jacquelyn Horkan, Editor
October, 2002

WORKERS’ COMP DEFORM

Someone once compared legislative leadership to herding cats. When it comes to reforming some programs, workers’ comp included, the problem is closer to herding a couple of very large carnivores who are just as pleased as can be with the status quo.

The smug satisfaction of the big cats, along with a lack of interest among journalists, means that building up momentum for reform is a slow Sisyphean project. This year, however, the business community is nearing the top of the hill.

In May, Gov. Jeb Bush created the Governor’s Commission on Workers’ Compensation Reform, which held its first meeting in Orlando at the same place as and on the last day of the Florida Workers’ Compensation Institute’s annual convention and education conference. Few of the conference participants managed to find their way to the commission’s meeting, however, preferring instead to endure such blockbuster sessions as “The Role of Workers’ Compensation Costs in Engineering Systems Improvement” and “Litigation of Medical Issues.”

Although sparsely attended, the commission meeting offered the occasion for the public unveiling of BE HEARD, a committee of continuous existence (similar to a political-action committee) founded the day before by the workers’ compensation section of the Florida Bar. Its members have dedicated themselves to the proposition that the workers’ comp system should be redesigned in such a way to transfer as much money as possible to the esteemed members of the legal profession.

The workers’ compensation section essentially wants to eliminate the self-executing nature of the insurance system that exists now (in law at least), replacing it with something more closely resembling a tort system. Its members include claimant lawyers and defense lawyers, meaning that the people who represent the employers and carriers against frivolous workers’ comp claims are uniting themselves with the people who pursuing the frivolous claims.

The BE HEARD dues schedule allows for contributions starting at $100 and ranging up to $10,000. Contributions will be distributed to political candidates “that believe in and support the independence of our judiciary as well as understand and appreciated attorney involvement in our workers’ compensation system.”

In other words, BE HEARD will support candidates who have never tried to meet a payroll or who have failed to secure workers’ comp coverage because of the parlous condition of our system.

To stay abreast of news on the governor’s commission visit FBNNET.com, an AIF members-only site, and click on the button in the left-hand column.

COMBUSTIBLE PROSE

“They tend to be people who are insecure and vain. They are frequently nervous about their marriages and uncomfortable about parenthood. … Above all, they are apt to be self-centered and self-absorbed, with little interest in their neighbors or communities.”

“They”are drivers of sport-utility vehicles, the target of High and Mighty, a new book by New York Times correspondent and Ralph Nader-clone Keith Bradsher. According to High and Mighty, SUV drivers are a wretched, benighted group who insist upon driving these menacing and murderous demons of Detroit .

SUVs grew in popularity after the enemies of the combustion engine convinced Congress to enact fuel-economy measures that forced automakers to shed pounds from their cars. As they lightened up, the cars became less safe.

Eschewing ideology in favor of innate common sense, large numbers of Americans have ignored the efficient matchboxes beloved by environmentalist in favor of SUVs, which are exempt from the legislation mandating high-mileage sedans. For the anti-SUV squadron, however, common sense cannot defy ideology, leading to the inevitable conclusion that SUV drivers can only be afflicted with anti-social disorders.

But, as Freud might have said he had lived long enough, sometimes a car is just a car.

PROFESSIONAL HYGIENE

A few months ago you might have read about the project of the new president of the Florida Bar, who was shocked, shocked to discover that people don’t like lawyers. Ted Aronovitz is using his leadership position to launch a $750,000 “Dignity in Law” public-relations campaign to “inform the public about the truth that the majority of lawyers are honest and hard-working.”

The effort harkens back to the Saturday Night Live bit about punk-rocker and girlfriend-slayer Sid Vicious: Worried that his client couldn’t get a fair trial, Vicious’s lawyer was getting his client’s name changed to Sid I’m Not Such a Bad Guy Once You Get to Know Me.

Sid Vicious was convicted, not because of his name, but because he really was vicious. Lawyers are condemned as bottom feeders because, well, too many of them just are.

Despite American sentiment against lawyers, however, attempts to stem their abuses continue to crash upon a seawall built of an imperial judiciary and hordes of lawmakers, typically Democratic, who find no fault with the lawsuit lottery. Thankfully, the Federal Trade Commission — one agency in one branch of government — is taking action. According to a September 29 report in the Washington Post, FTC Chairman Timothy J. Muris says his agency is putting new focus on reducing class-action legal fees.

The FTC has challenged attorney fees in three proposed class-action settlements this year, winning two. The agency plans to focus attention on settlements such as those where the plaintiffs receive near-worthless coupons while their attorneys pocket millions in fees.

The agency recently released a new consumer guide called “Need a Lawyer? Judge for Yourself” (available online at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/services/lawyer.htm) full of advice on how to select a lawyer — and avoid paying him too much. Think about printing out copies for your employees and friends. If the legal profession won’t clean itself up, we can do our part as consumers to squash the shysters under the forces of the free market.

Jacquelyn Horkan is editor of Florida Business Insight, Associated Industries of Florida’s on-line magazine (e-mail: jhorkan@aif.com).