Today's guest blog was written by Kevin Cheney at Cheney Galluzzi & Howard.
If you don't already know, Uber has been targeting Personal Injury (PI) lawyers nationwide over the last few months and shows no signs of slowing down. I, for one, have deleted the app and will look to use other rideshare companies going forward. Let’s get up to speed on Uber and its possible effects on PI firms.
Nevada: Uber is spending $5,000,000 to get a ballot measure on the ballot in Nevada that would cap contingency fees at 20% for ALL cases including car crashes, premises, products, med-mal, and the like. A group of attorneys has come together to fight this in the Nevada Supreme Court, declaring the ballot measure unconstitutional as "confusing." They came out with a victory in this instance, but the fight isn’t over, your state could be next.
Georgia: The largest tort reform fight in the country just ended in Georgia. Uber, along with some other business interests, pushed a bill to end Georgia’s billed vs. paid regime, gut premises cases, separate liability and damages trials, gut third-party bad faith/excess verdicts, and many others that may harm civil justice.
Colorado: Colorado was one of roughly ten states where Uber sent unsolicited emails to all account holders accusing PI lawyers of the high cost of rides across the country. Uber’s emails campaigned that roughly 20% of all ride costs go to insurance fees. Uber protested that their drivers shouldn't be treated like commercial drivers and that PI lawyers "exploit" those cases by driving up costs.
Of course, we know that PI lawyers are not to blame for Uber's profit failures. The reality is there certainly aren’t billions in profit money for personal transportation in America. The delta between what people will pay to be driven and what drivers want to be paid to drive is so small it is very hard to turn a profit. Uber can blame PI lawyers all it wants, but we know better and will continue to protect civil justice in this country.
