Submitted by OCULUS, Jan 31, 2008 09:42

I wish Mr. Tofel, his WSJ confreres and the new Pro-Publica well, but this is the stuff of tort reform that never goes anywhere in the legislature. I once filed a simliar letter to a judge in Delaware who had accepted a case against Ralph Lauren Polo, seeking millions (for the attorneys) and pennies for consumers. As I recall the complaint was that Factory Outlet Store goods were not "overruns" or something similarly lame.

I wrote to the judge, not complaining about the screwy legal claims, but rather, asking how HE, as a Judge, in good conscience, could accept such a case that was laugh-out loud frivolous. I got a form returned to me. Not happy with that, I readdressed my letter directly to the judge. I never heard from him, but did some pablum from a clerk. I wrote it off as "Delaware."

Here in New York, I doubt you'll even get a form.

Bottom line,absent legislative action: Until we can get a Judge to be held accountable for hearing such lawyer-to-lawyer cases, (on the Street this would be known as "insider trading") we'll never get reasonable fees to the tort lawyers, much less any satisfaction to we lowly "plaintiffs" so far down the compensation line.

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