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Personal Injury Lawyer Albany Ny
ALBANY - The powerful head of the state Senate Finance Committee is pushing a bill that would increase medical malpractice legal fees for trial lawyers just like him.
Sen. John DeFrancisco's effort comes even as his fellow Senate Republicans and Gov. Cuomo are trying to cap pain and suffering awards at $250,000.
DeFrancisco, of Syracuse, opposes such a cap.
His bill would allow lawyers to collect as much as 33% in legal fees from malpractice payouts by repealing a less lucrative law on the books.
Lawyers can currently receive 30% of the first $250,000 doled out in court, 25% on the next $250,000 and downward to 10% of payouts over $1.25 million.
DeFrancisco is of counsel to a Syracuse personal injury law firm where his son is a named partner. The firm specializes in medical malpractice cases and highlights the multimillion-dollar awards its lawyers have won on its website.
The senator, through his office, declined comment.
Government reform groups ripped it as "outrageous" that DeFrancisco is sponsoring a bill that would directly benefit him and his law firm.
They say it's another reason the state needs full public disclosure of lawmakers' outside income.
"There's clearly some self-interest at work here," said Susan Lerner of Common Cause/New York. "It raises questions about whether he is representing the public's interests or the financial interests of his law firm."
The medical community vehemently opposes the bill, which the Greater New York Hospital Association estimates would increase medical malpractice premiums and costs by as much as 40% - or $640 million.
"This bill would drastically worsen hospitals' already oppressive medical malpractice costs and threaten access to care," said GNYHA spokesman Brian Conway. "To enact it would be shameless."
