Two initiatives from the Civil Justice Association of California (CJAC) have been submitted for next year’s general election ballot to protect injured consumers in court cases from delayed resolution and improper compensation.
“We see headlines every day reporting how celebrity trial lawyer Tom Girardi, for decades, stole millions of dollars from his clients that were meant for their medical rehabilitation and recovery,” Kyla Christoffersen Powell, CJAC president and CEO, said in an email response to the Northern California Record. “It’s an example of how some lawyers look out for themselves rather than their clients. It also underscores how California needs to do more to protect injured consumers from unethical lawyers.”
CJAC’s ballot measures aim to ensure clients are treated fairly and cases handled appropriately.
“One of our proposals is a 60-day window of time before a lawsuit is filed that gives injured consumers and the person or business who harmed them an opportunity to resolve the dispute,” Powell said. “This means faster recovery for injured consumers, without the exorbitant legal fees that can come from filing a lawsuit. Too often unethical lawyers delay resolution so they can drive up legal fees at the client’s expense.”
The State Auditor in April issued a report that found the State Bar of California is not effectively managing the system that investigates and disciplines attorneys who abuse the public trust. Data showed that in the last five years, case processing times had risen 56 percent, and the case backlog had increased by 87 percent.
Girardi had kept his law license even with dozens of lawsuits alleging misappropriation of funds, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“CJAC’s ballot measures also propose that lawyers cannot take more than 20 percent of their clients’ recovery in any case,” Powell said. “This allows lawyers to collect reasonable compensation while ensuring injured consumers take home the bulk of their recovery. Under the current system, trial lawyers commonly pocket 40 to 50 percent of their clients’ recovery.”
To qualify a measure for the November 2022 ballot, proponents must submit 623,212 signatures by the end of April 2022, Powell said.
“CJAC has twice before taken initiatives to the statewide ballot to improve the state’s civil justice system, and both were overwhelmingly approved by voters,” Powell said. “Proposition 51 in 1986 required non-economic damages to be assigned according to level of fault, and Proposition 64 in 2004 required a showing of injury or loss of money in order to bring an unfair competition lawsuit.”