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Lately, we’ve been bringing you a lot of stories about “Trial Lawyers Behaving Badly.” Now, we have another tale to add to our list!  According to the Connecticut Law Tribune, a Connecticut personal injury lawyer, Joseph P. Haddad, has allegedly swindled millions of dollars by defrauding insurance companies.

Ambulance chasing. You’ve probably heard of it – it occurs when personal injury lawyers, seeking new business, decide to visit hospital beds, make unsolicited calls or even show up at funeral homes following the accidental death of a loved one.

Ambulance chasing, or “barratry,” as it’s known in technical language, is clearly morally reprehensible. Attorneys who practice it prey upon people when they are most emotionally vulnerable. Respectable lawyers know that plaintiffs with real concerns will seek out representation on their own; attorneys who make unsolicited visits to injured people are simply attempting to exploit the system for profit.

Tort reformers have been turning up all over the internet recently. We took the liberty of rounding up some of the standouts. You may recognize a few friends of Project Lawsuit Abuse in there. Here are some of the newsmakers from around the country.

WVa Senate votes to limit landowner liability

It’s Thanksgiving – a time for family, food, football and…lawsuits? At least, that seems to be what personal injury firms are thinking. In celebration of the holidays, personal injury firms have been spreading blog posts and press releases like this one, warning folks to take the most basic precautions to avoid accidents (and lawsuits) on Thanksgiving. Like outrageous warning labels, these trial lawyer blogs are a little insulting and condescending. For instance, you probably don’t need a personal injury lawyer to tell you not to let your turkey burn!

With all of the lawsuits we see these days, one would think that lawyers aren’t making it difficult to file a lawsuit, right?

Well, a new iPhone app just made it even easier.

Attorney Daniel Flanzig in New York City created an app for bicyclists to use to collect evidence if they have been in an accident.  Now, we don’t fault the cyclists for an attempt to protect themselves from dangerous roads, but doesn’t it sound a little squeaky that this app was made by a personal injury lawyer, not a biker?  If this application can be made, what’s next? 

This week, the New York State Senate passed legislation that aimed at curbing the practice of “ambulance chasing.”

According to our friends at the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York, the legislation, sponsored by State Seante Majority Leader Dean Skelos, “which increases penalties for hiring or acting as a “runner” to procure clients, patients, or customers.”  A runner is “defined as a person hired by a professional, typically a lawyer or doctor, to solicit services.”

Doctors have reasons to fear practicing medicine in quite a few states these days.  Last week we mentioned how reformers in Illinois fear doctors may start to leave the state due to the possibility of increasing liability insurance costs. Now let’s look at Pennsylvania.