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Do Proliferating Ads for Med-Mal Plaintiffs Mean Suits Are On the Rise?

By Carolyn Elefant

The Blog of Legal Times reports on a recent study by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform that found that television advertisements soliciting plaintiffs for medical malpractice lawsuits increased from about 10,150 ads in 2004 to more than 156,000 ads in 2008 -- a whopping 1,400 percent increase in four years. Moreover, spending for the ads increased from $3.8 million to nearly $62 million during this time period. In the press release announcing the study, Lisa Rickard, president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform stated: Lawsuits are ultimately a business driven by the plaintiffs? bar, and when you see the marketing of medical malpractice lawsuits exploding like this, it tells you that these lawsuits are a growing sector within the larger lawsuit industry. The trouble with the report, however, is that increased advertising isn't necessarily evidence of increased cases. In fact, to the contrary, what an increase in advertising tells me is that the same or greater number of lawyers are competing for a piece of an ever contracting lawsuit pie. In addition, television advertising may also be on the rise to keep pace with the impressive presence of solo or small firm medical malpractice lawyers, such...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on September 08, 2009 (boomark / email).