Lawmaker, Attorney Neighbors, But View on Reforms Miles Apart

SPRINGFIELD - When state Sen. Peter G. Fitzgerald moved to Inverness last September, some of his supporters were "upset."

According to Fitzgerald, a few of his political friends who advocated radical changes in the state's civil justice system thought he was getting a little too chummy with his new next-door neighbor, Robert A. Clifford , a Democrat and a nationally known personal-injury attorney.

Although their driveways are a stone's throw away from each other, the chasm that separates their views on the civil law reform signed Thursday by Gov. Jim Edgar is as wide as the Grand Canyon.

"Peter Fitzgerald is wedded to the notion of tort reform. And I am just as vociferous in my arguments against that," Clifford said. "But I respect that reasonable minds will differ. In other issues that impact my community, like casino gambling, his views coincide with my views. It's just that he is misguided on tort reform."

And they know better than to even try to change each other's mind on the legislation, which places restrictions on personal injury, medical malpractice and product liability lawsuits, and caps pain-and-suffering awards. The issue divided business and doctors, who face liability lawsuits, and attorneys, who benefit from court fees.

"It's ironic that we live next to each other. We like each other and respect each other," Fitzgerald said. "In fact, Bob's daughter has baby-sat for my nieces."

"I would always recommend Bob Clifford to anyone I knew who had a meritorious personal-injury suit. Bob's the best personal-injury attorney in Chicago."

The legislation sets a $500,000 cap on the amount of monetary awards for pain and suffering an injured party can collect in a personal-injury lawsuit. But Edgar's signature on the legislation does not mean the debate over tort reform is over. Opponents of the Republican package have vowed to challenge the constitutionality of the law in court.

Clifford has gone to bat for injured parties, and his successful jury awards on behalf of his clients make him no lightweight in that arena. His credits include the state's largest monetary verdict last year. He won a $28 million verdict against United Airlines on behalf of a 70-year-old widow who survived the airline's 1989 crash in Sioux City, Iowa.

Although Fitzgerald praised his neighbor's professional skills, he said it's lawyers like Clifford who are responsible for the skyrocketing jury awards and litigation explosion that drive up business costs and unfairly target companies with the "deepest pockets" to pay injured parties' expenses, even if companies are not solely at fault. "Bob is so good a personal injury attorney that it's the kind of awards that he wins that we need reform in Illinois," he added.

Reform has been eagerly sought by large and small companies that argue the explosion in litigation raises insurance costs.

Unpredictable and irrational jury decisions raise corporate costs, discourage innovation and hurt the competitive ability of Illinois companies, they argue. But consumer advocates and trial lawyers disagree.

They argue that most personal-injury settlements are reasonable and do not do great harm to businesses.

They also contend that caps wipe out any monetary incentives for businesses to act responsibly to ensure safe work areas and safe products.

"The incentives to instill safety have been removed because there are no significant penalties" for those who do harm, said Clifford .

While Fitzgerald and Clifford are divided on the new law, both say they will remain friends. When another neighbor joked that Clifford's lakeside property had a protruding post on it that could cause injury to someone, Fitzgerald said he joked about it and told Clifford that he should remove the stump before someone falls on it and sues him.

Clifford had the last laugh and responded, Fitzgerald said, by saying it wouldn't matter because now there would be caps on the award.