ATT’Y PAYDAY PUSH

NY law$uit bill

State lawmakers are pushing a bill that would help pad the pockets of lawyers representing clients in medical-malpractice lawsuits, The Post has learned. The measure, sponsored by Assemblyman Charles Lavine (D-Nassau) and Sen. Jamaal Bailey (D-Bronx), would boost the sliding scale of contingency fees that attorneys can collect from clients in such cases, typically filed against hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities. In medical-malpractice cases, lawyers do not get paid upfront by the client but receive a sliding fee based on the sum reached for a settlement or verdict. The legislation would allow lawyers to accept onethird of the first $500,000 recovered in medical-malpractice settlements or verdicts, up from the first $250,000 under the current statute.

The scale would also be adjusted to 30% instead of 25% of the next $500,000; 25% instead of 20% off of the next $500,000 over $1 million and 20% instead of 15% of any amount over $1.5 million. Attorneys could also request even higher fees from the court or plaintiff under the proposed law.

The trade groups representing hospitals and companies said the bill — which is being pushed close to the end of Albany’s legislative session on June 2 — is just a money grab by trial lawyers and their allies.

Enriching ‘sharks’

Lawsuit Reform Alliance director Tom Stebbins said, “These bills have nothing to do with justice and everything to do with enriching trial lawyer sharks as they circle the injured and vulnerable.”

“Increased fees for ambulance chasers means less money for the plaintiffs actually filing the lawsuits,” he said. “Why does the legislature want to take money away from plaintiffs and further enrich law firms?”

Lavine and Bailey chair the judiciary committees in the Assembly and Senate respectively, overseeing legislation that affects litigation and the court system, including lawyers’ contingency fees.

Campaign records show Bailey has received five contributions totaling $2,500 from the New York Academy of Trial Lawyers Political Action Committee since 2016. Lavine received a donation of $1,000 from the group on Oct. 29 of last year, according to records filed with the state Board of Elections.

Both lawmakers defended the legislation to fatten lawyers’ fees, a bill which has been kicking around episodically for years.

“It’s simply a matter of fairness for people who are victims,” said Lavine.

“The measure makes it easier for lawyers to take these cases on. These are expensive, difficult cases to prosecute.”