CALA Slingshots : Texas Supreme Court
Warped sense of judicial fairness

The Chronicle's Oct. 31 article, "High court rulings favor business, group says," told how upset Texas Watch is that the Texas Supreme Court will not bend, twist or contort the law. This group issued yet another scathing attack on the high court without even a passing attempt to address why winners won and losers lost.

Apparently, Texas Watch subscribes to the theory that plaintiffs must win a majority of the cases for the system to be considered "fair." But if the win/loss ratio were the sole criterion for judging fairness, the only fair system would be one that guaranteed that each "side" would win exactly half the cases -- regardless of what happened in the lower courts.

Such a view of fairness has nothing to do with appellant judicial decision-making.

The Texas Watch study, "Shifting Sands" is simplistic, misleading and fraught with omissions.

For instance: When a hospital was dismissed from a lawsuit, Texas Watch charged that the court's action "left no one accountable for the mistakes made by a training physician," but conveniently failed to mention that the family had already received $2.75 million from settling defendants.

In another case, a family collected $2.9 million in a medical liability lawsuit. However, the high court denied them an additional $75,001 for being deprived of the love and support of their injured child, a cause of action that doesn't exist in Texas or in any other state. Where is Texas Watch when consumer's rights are mishandled by attorneys?

Where is Texas Watch when the lawyer fees leave the consumer without sufficient funds to care for the consumer's injury?

Texas Watch's interpretation of its "study" shows an ignorance of the law and how the legal system works.

Cora Sue Mach, president,
Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse,
Houston


Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse

2500 City West Boulevard, Suite 300 • Houston, Texas 77042
E-mail: sosueme@ • Administrative: (713) 267-2302 • Fax: (713) 267-2267