What about asbestos?
Laurie asks:
"[C]an you do me a favor and explain here at The Lawyer's Drudge what's going on in Washington regarding asbestos litigation and how it affects Texas? And, more importantly, how it will affect this poor little asbestos law firm paralegal. And, even more importantly, how it will affect this poor little asbestos law firm paralegal's upcoming summer bonus."
The Senate Judiciary Committee just approved the ominously titled "FAIR Act of 2005." This piece of legislation would essentially end asbestos litigation and replace it with an administrative program. For the defense side, if this passes, asbestos litigation is over.
Basically, if you're not in trial when the law goes into effect, the lawsuit is over and the plaintiff is stuck with the administrative remedy. For an asbestos law firm's paralegal (especially on the defense side), this is not at all a good thing. Plaintiffs' lawyers will still have something to do in shepherding cases through the administrative proceedings (subject to a 5% fee cap), but defense lawyers will have no more to do with asbestos that they do with Workers' Compensation or Social Security.
On the short-term upside (from the Texas asbestos defense paralegal's perspective), recent changes to Texas law have encouraged Texas asbestos plaintiffs firms to get as many cases "in trial" as possible by September. The new Texas law prohibits trying asbestos cases in groups, making it economically unfeasible to try cases with less serious injuries. It applies to cases not yet in trial come September. It'll hurt plainitffs and plaintiffs' lawyers and increase the burden on the courts, but defense lawyers should do fine and defendants will make out like bandits. And it has plaintiffs' lawyers scrambling to get as many cases in trial before the cut off. So there should be tons of work to do over the summer.
After that, though, if the "FAIR Act of 2005" passes, The Lawyers' Drudge would be happy to give you a glowing reference.
As far as your summer bonus is concerned, it comes down to whether your employers want to keep you happy while they're swamped with work, or whether they figure they'd better just grab all they can for themselves before it's too late. You'll have to figure the answer to that one out for yourself.
You can read what Reuters considers the key aspects of the bill here.
You can read the official bill summary (with links to the text) here.
A note about being "in trial": Although it's not defined in the Texas statute, The Lawyers' Drudge's research indicates that the commencement of trial under Texas law occurs when the parties begin the opening statements. Under the FAIR Act, a case isn't "in trial" until the presentation of evidence starts.
And now The lawyers' Drudge's C.Y.A. disclaimer: If there's money at stake, don't rely on what you read on the Internet. Do your own damn research. I'm not your lawyer and I'm not giving legal advice.
"[C]an you do me a favor and explain here at The Lawyer's Drudge what's going on in Washington regarding asbestos litigation and how it affects Texas? And, more importantly, how it will affect this poor little asbestos law firm paralegal. And, even more importantly, how it will affect this poor little asbestos law firm paralegal's upcoming summer bonus."
The Senate Judiciary Committee just approved the ominously titled "FAIR Act of 2005." This piece of legislation would essentially end asbestos litigation and replace it with an administrative program. For the defense side, if this passes, asbestos litigation is over.
Basically, if you're not in trial when the law goes into effect, the lawsuit is over and the plaintiff is stuck with the administrative remedy. For an asbestos law firm's paralegal (especially on the defense side), this is not at all a good thing. Plaintiffs' lawyers will still have something to do in shepherding cases through the administrative proceedings (subject to a 5% fee cap), but defense lawyers will have no more to do with asbestos that they do with Workers' Compensation or Social Security.
On the short-term upside (from the Texas asbestos defense paralegal's perspective), recent changes to Texas law have encouraged Texas asbestos plaintiffs firms to get as many cases "in trial" as possible by September. The new Texas law prohibits trying asbestos cases in groups, making it economically unfeasible to try cases with less serious injuries. It applies to cases not yet in trial come September. It'll hurt plainitffs and plaintiffs' lawyers and increase the burden on the courts, but defense lawyers should do fine and defendants will make out like bandits. And it has plaintiffs' lawyers scrambling to get as many cases in trial before the cut off. So there should be tons of work to do over the summer.
After that, though, if the "FAIR Act of 2005" passes, The Lawyers' Drudge would be happy to give you a glowing reference.
As far as your summer bonus is concerned, it comes down to whether your employers want to keep you happy while they're swamped with work, or whether they figure they'd better just grab all they can for themselves before it's too late. You'll have to figure the answer to that one out for yourself.
You can read what Reuters considers the key aspects of the bill here.
You can read the official bill summary (with links to the text) here.
A note about being "in trial": Although it's not defined in the Texas statute, The Lawyers' Drudge's research indicates that the commencement of trial under Texas law occurs when the parties begin the opening statements. Under the FAIR Act, a case isn't "in trial" until the presentation of evidence starts.
And now The lawyers' Drudge's C.Y.A. disclaimer: If there's money at stake, don't rely on what you read on the Internet. Do your own damn research. I'm not your lawyer and I'm not giving legal advice.
posted by Jack | 3:29 PM
9 Comments:
Damn. I guess I better hold off on that big ass television I've been coveting. Also, thanks on the reference but I've already been told I'll be needed no matter what. (I'm very versatile having held every imaginable non-lawyer job there is in a law office.)
Get the TV now, along with a new car and anything else that will fit on your credit cards. Beat the change in the bankruptcy law.
Also--
You may be indispensible, but what about them? If asbestos dries up, are you sure we won't be seeing the lawyers you work for with a squeegee on the street corner?
My bosses are pretty resourceful. The changes just apply to asbestos. We also do chemicals and silica and some other stuff that allegedly makes your clients sick. And, although I've only been here five years, I am fifth in line seniority wise. Worst case sceneriio they will surely need at least five of us even if we end up with only several hundred cases.
Oh, and I didn't say indispensible. We're all dispensible. I said versatile. I've been office manager, bookkeeper, legal secretary, paralegal, receptionist, runner, computer geek, librarian, copier technician, phone system programmer.......ad nauseum! (I really want to be a fortune teller in Jackson Square.)
I would like to be a fortune teller in New Orleans when I retire. With tort reform, I may be one next year.
Laurie,
Your summer and Christmas bonus should be very good in 2005. The buzz in silica is that all of the work is going to ruin our summer, which is fine with me. As Chi stated, next year there won't be as many cases, but you will always, always be okay. I guarantee that - it's in the cards.
Psychic Alison - I like your prediction. Send your bill to Blogger.
I'll just send my bill to Wang.
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