by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Attorney Tom Edwards is in Tallahassee today for a mediation. It shouldn’t take long and any other day he’d turn around and drive 160 miles home.
Instead, Edwards — a trail lawyer and partner in Edwards & Ragatz — will stick around for most of the rest of the week. See, his part-time gig starts Tuesday and while it doesn’t pay a thing, Edwards hopes the hundreds of hours he spend in the capital over the next 60 days pay off big.
“I will be there almost full-time, a minimum of four days a week,” said Edwards, who is also president of the Florida Justice Association.
During the session, Edwards will stay at a condo owned by a fellow FJA member that’s just a few blocks from the capital. He’ll work out in the mornings and work late into most evenings. In between, Edwards will lobby on behalf of the state’s trial lawyers and this year he’s eyeing four primary issues: court funding, workers’ compensation reform, nursing home law and bad faith protection. Edwards said his role in Tallahassee is to promote pro consumer and pro victim laws. In order to do that, he’ll have to interact day in and day out with the state’s lawmakers. Given the balance of the laws on the books, and those under consideration, Edwards has his work cut out.
“There are almost always more anti-consumer laws,” he said. “That’s the reality of the way the system works.”
The bane of the existence of trial lawyers is the insurance companies, which hold all the cards, according to Edwards, in most workers’ compensation cases.
“Unfortunately, the reality is the insurance companies and the businesses can afford to push through laws that hurt the trial lawyers,” he said. “Our interests are tied directly to the people of the state.”
Edwards, a former Jacksonville Bar Association president, said a typical meeting with an insurance company consists of himself and possibly one other attorney and 15-40 lobbyists representing the other side.
“We are outnumbered all day every day,” he said. “We have a meeting early in the morning to review legislation and assign people to committees. We will meet with legislators and talk to them about the merits and problems with a bill. My day starts at 7 in the morning and extends well into the evening.”
Edwards said Eric Ragatz will manage the office in his absence. However, through cell phone and e-mail, Edwards will be able to offer advise and guidance if needed.
Here’s how the trial lawyers stand on the four issues:
Court funding
“This touches almost everyone in the state,” said Edwards, adding court funding has been cut about 10 percent over the past two budget years. “The courts are not a state agency. They are the third function of government with the governor’s office and the legislature being the other two.”
Edwards said there is more than enough money generated by filing fees to fund the court system. However, like the lottery money, that funding is diversified.
Workers’ compensation
“We know this will be a huge fight this year. It’s driven by the business community,” he said.
Edwards says a watered down workers’ comp law places the brunt of workers’ comp claims on taxpayers and not the insurance companies.
Nursing home law
Edwards and the FJA would like to see the “wasting law” abolished. This law allows nursing homes to buy a $100,000 insurance policy that covers all claims and attorneys’ fees.
“They are basically saying, ‘tough luck’,” said Edwards. “You can’t get a penny even if they do wrong. There is a bill pending that prohibit the wasting policies.”
Bad faith
“Under Florida law, insurance companies are required to treat people in good faith. They have to investigate and pay and protect the policy holder,” said Edwards. “If they don’t investigate they can be held liable. Essentially, the insurance companies want to rewrite the law. Before the session, they always threaten to pull out of the market and they have done this the last several years in a row.”
356-2466