by Monica Chamness
Staff Writer
Their faces are on billboards, television advertisements and the telephone book. They are personal injury attorneys and their ubiquitous presence is evidence of the largest of the speciality sections of The Jacksonville Bar Association.
With 54 members, the Personal Injury Litigation Section is geared towards attorneys whose practice covers automobile accidents, product liability, medical malpractice, slip-and-fall incidents and all other cases involving bodily injuries.
Attorneys Jay Knight from Moseley, Warren, Prichard & Parrish and Tom Slater from Pajcic & Pajcic are co-chairing the section this year. The reason for dual leadership is to ensure a balanced perspective, one from the view of a plaintiff’s attorney and the other from a defense attorney. In fact, the two are currently working a case where they are opposing counsel.
“Jay does primarily railroad work,” said Slater. “He’s on the defense side and I’m on the plaintiff side.”
Unlike past years, 2003 promises to offer a little more for section members. Slater and Knight are organizing a day-long seminar this spring to address personal injury litigation issues. All JBA members can attend.
“We want to provide benefits to JBA members that, historically, had not been there,” said Slater. “We’re planning on doing it in April or May. Topics may include evidentiary issues, civil procedure rules or perhaps other areas. We may have experts like doctors or economists. It’s still formulating. In the past, for attorneys on both sides, they have not been able to get CLE credit [in this field] in Jacksonville. We are trying to create an opportunity for Bar members to earn credit locally and not have to go out-of-town or listen to audiotapes.”
Of greatest concern lately to plaintiff attorneys is President George W. Bush’s proposal to cap damages in medical malpractice suits and to limit claims against nursing home pharmaceutical companies. On the state level, the Florida Medical Association is also pushing for medical malpractice reform by way of capping non-economic damages.
“I don’t know that it will have much of an impact on defense lawyers or those who practice outside personal injury,” he said.
As far as regular meetings, Slater doesn’t see the need. The Jacksonville Trial Lawyers Association, composed of mainly plaintiff attorneys, meets quarterly. Slater said defense lawyers have similar meetings on a regular basis. The group is certainly not prevented from using the network to socialize, however.
“They can network with other lawyers in the section,” he said.