Day on Torts
As I have mentioned in some past posts (the most recent one can be read here) the voters of Florida passed a constitutional amendment one year ago that severely limited the amount of attorneys’ fees in medical negligence actions. Lawyers who believed that a case was valid but who could not afford to prosecute it then asked clients if they would waive the fee cap and, presumably, had them execute a knowing, valid waiver.
Some lawyers with ties to the medical industry then asked the Florida Supreme Court to order that the Florida Bar adopt a ruling prohibiting such conduct.
The Florida Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. It held that an attorney must advise a potential client of the fee cap and that a client may knowingly and voluntarily waive the cap. It directed the Florida Bar to adopt appropriate rules. See the Order here.
This means that Florida consumers with medical negligence claims will have the opportunity to have a lawyer represent them.
ATLA’s Center on Constitutional Litigation helped Florida’s lawyers and medical negligence victims on the issue.
I picked up a copy of the Order itself through Abstract Appeal, the execellent blog published by Matt Conigliaro.