Tort “reform” comes in many flavors. The most obvious is when businesses ask for various protections and immunities from negligent acts by asking that the most badly injured be limited in the compensation they need to be made whole again.
But then there is the more insidious kind, the kind that comes in the form of federal preemption concepts and insurance regulations, that make the eyes glaze over for mere mortals. Only wonks and (some) lawyers understand the significance.
Brooks Schuelke tackles that topic today. It comes as the Treasury Department introduces a plan to overhaul financial institutions, that takes on more importance in the wake of the Bear Stearns debacle. And part of that may be national regulation of the insurance industry, which is to say, doing away with the consumer protections that various states have in favor of a one-size-fits-all federal scheme.
His post is here, and well worth the read: How the Paulson Plan Will Affect Personal Injury Claims.