The Good and Bad of Legislation

Dear Readers, Legislators gathering once a year under the Golden Dome to debate and pass laws every year has its good side and its bad. Laws are in constant need of attention and modernizing, yet, if we sleep on the process, we lose our rights. 

Let's start with an example of a proposal that makes ever so much sense. HB 511 tries to rectify a serious inequity when it comes to "expungement" rights concerning arrests.  If you go to trial and you are acquitted, how many of you out there believe you have the right to have your record cleansed and expunged? Hands up. Or, say you are indicted, but the district attorney elects to drop your case because it turns out a witness lied and you never should have been arrested in the first place?  Any thoughts? 

The answer is both cases is that the poor soul dragged through the system, even wrongly, at the end currently has NO RIGHT to expungement. That's right, even the district attorney could be convinced of your innocence and there is no mechanism to seal your records from prying eyes. If it becomes law, HB 511 would bring Georgia into the modern world and permit us to somewhat right a serious wrong done – I am not sure what there is to debate. 

Then, there is HB 960 which would almost dull the power of "bad faith" claims against greedy insurance companies. One can only guess at who is behind it, but it is clearly just one more attempt to shift power away from individuals and give insurance companies one more way to bludgeon us. Insurance companies hate it when plaintiffs prove that they have acted in bad faith.  It brings uncertainty to their actuarial calculations and eats into their profits. The way this works is that a plaintiff makes a pre-suit demand, laying out the basis of a claim and the nature of the injuries caused. If a valid claim is made, and the insurance company acts in "bad faith" in failing to promptly settle it, the plaintiff can recover attorneys fees, penalties, and, in some cases, sums in excess of any policy limits.  

This tool puts some brakes on greed. It brings a little justice to someone injured by another's wrongful actions, where the insurance company won't settle the claim promptly and fairly. HB 960 takes the foot off the brakes. It would be a brand new statute, that currently has no precursor. It has one benign requirement of a claimant to produce all medical records and bills associated with a claim; this happens anyway, so I am not sure why it has to be codified.  

After this, though, this bill veers off course. For example, it requires that any demand be left open for at least sixty (60) days – why does justice have to be delayed two (2) whole months? And, even though there is the requirement to produce all medical bills and records, the claimant also has to produce a HIPPA release, permitting the adjustor to talk to your doctors or request your personal medical records without any restriction or penalty. If this bill passes, I will be duty bound to tell my clients that, if they file a claim, the adjustor can rummage through their medical and mental health history without limitation.  

Finally, this bill would require my clients to agree to indemnify the insurance company for all other claims, including a spouse's claim for loss of consortium.  What happens to a client going through a divorce or who has had no recent contact with their spouse? I have had several clients with both of these scenarios. They could not press for bad faith because they would either have to buy-off a spouse or could not find him or her. Don't be silent. If you have an opinion about either of these proposed bills, make sure that your local legislator knows your opinion. We elect people to represent us and if you care about your rights, you need to make your opinions known. 

Local attorney Jim Rockefeller owns the Rockefeller Law Center and is a former Houston Co. Chief Assistant District Attorney, and a former Miami Prosecutor.