Class Action Lawsuits and Lawyers

(31) (BJS data from the nation's largest counties show an increase in median awards in state courts from $201,000 in 1992 to $286,000 in 1996.)(32) That rise coincides with increasing malpractice premiums for doctors, which critics blame for leading to a reduction in the availability of health care in some parts of the country. Another set of tort claims that concerns policymakers is cases filed using the class-action procedure, in which a small number of plaintiffs represent a larger group of people who were similarly affected by the same product or tort. Class-action cases are designed to address relatively small but numerous losses for which individual suits would be impractical.
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