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Welcome to the Western Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association's website.  Feel free to browse through the pages and learn more about who we are and what we do.  If this is something you are interested in being a part of, please click on the link below.

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Information for the Public

"Tort Reform" is a term that we have been hearing a lot recently. It is the subject of a large number of legislative proposals and is also a prominent topic during the debates that are leading up to the 2012 presidential election.

However, the key questions that you should be asking are "what is tort reform?" and " “do we need tort reform?”

Although "tort reform" sounds like it is aimed at making the justice system better, the label “tort reform” is often placed on legislation favored by corporate and insurance interests to make their proposals sound good. In reality tort reform is often legislation designed to allow corporations, insurance companies and other special interests to escape responsibility for their wrongdoing. The end goal is usually to shield or limit wrongdoers from having to fully pay for the injuries they caused, even if the injuries are catastrophic and life threatening.  Tort reform legislation favored by these special interests will often include things such as caps on damages, rules requiring litigants to increasingly rely on high priced experts, limiting who has to pay when there are several negligent defendants, and creating special courts designed to be biased against injury victims.  In the end, the special interest groups that are pushing tort reform are interested in taking away your rights if you are ever hurt in an accident, by a dangerous product, or as the result of medical malpractice.

WPTLA News

A 3-credit CLE program is being offered on Monday, February 13, 2012 at the Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh.  The program, entitled, Electronic Medical Records: Audit Trails and The Hightech Act, will feature a prominent panel of speakers, including Jerry I. Meyers, Esq., of Meyers Evans & Associates, Rolf L. Patberg, Esq., of Patberg Carmody & Ging, and Joshua L. Berger, Esq., of Berger & Lagnese.  Matt Hanak, of Precise, Inc. will also take part in the presentation.

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