Bob Wise: “the reason that I am opposing what is billed as the Common Sense Legal Reform Act or Tort Reform Act is not because I am…”

“the reason that I am opposing what is billed as the Common Sense Legal Reform Act or Tort Reform Act is not because I am opposed to all tort reform. I am not. I think what most people want is they want to see the courts that are clogged have that ended. They want to discourage frivolous lawsuits. In some cases they want to limit what they see as unfair recoveries and perhaps unfair attorney fees. They want to see the end to the occasional sensational judgment you read about. The fact of the matter is this legislation this Congress has been considering does not do any of that, and it will not guarantee to any working West Virginian, any middle or low-income West Virginian, any lower insurance rate. It will not guarantee any better health care. It will not do that. But what it will do besides is, it is going to say to the average West Virginian that you are not going to get any lower insurance rates, you are not going to get any lower health care rates, but you are going to have a lot harder time going to court when you have a legitimate grievance you need to litigate. I wanted to be able to support the product liability, the securities limitation, and even in some cases the attorney's accountability act. but I cannot do it, for instance, when they completely change the way that there is compensation for the victim. I cannot do it, for instance, when they overrule 200 years of common law in this country to say that now the loser will pay.”