Pete Sessions: “the asbestos litigation in America today is out of control. We have been working on fixing it for years. In a previous…”

“the asbestos litigation in America today is out of control. We have been working on fixing it for years. In a previous life, I represented two plaintiffs, people who were injured from asbestos, seriously injured, and adversely affected in their health. I was embarrassed by how long it took, and by how many fees and costs came out of those cases. I have been embarrassed over the years to see this spasm in our legal system continue daily, not dispensing justice in a fair and legitimate way. We know from a Rand study and from our own experience that 58 percent of the money paid out by these defendants does not go to the people who are sick; it goes to lawyers. Somebody made an interesting point--I believe it was Senator Durbin--that actually a slightly higher percentage of money goes to defense lawyers than to the plaintiffs' lawyers. Regardless which side receives the money, over half of it is going to lawyers. If you are sued for $50 million and your corporation hires the best legal team possible and spends all this money, and there are court costs and depositions and fees for experts, it eats you up. When the judgments come out, often after years of work, very little money goes to the victim. It is not right. It is the worst performance by the legal system, in my view--other than discrimination based on race in our past--since the founding of the Republic. This cannot be justified, although it is happening this very day in courts all over America.…”