Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1913-05-16
Railroad Personal Injury Litigation.

2 The chief if not the sole featur
Of note in the proceedings of III
annual Bar Association convention
at Greenwood was the address o
Mr., Blewitt Lee, chief counsel o
the Illinois Central railroad. En-
bellished with flashes of wit anC
poetry, its theme was anti railrolt
personal injury litigation in Mis-
sissippi. As the question is one
on which the public attention las
been turned through certain Of its
incidents recently, we publish cx.
tracts from Mr.. Lees remarks.
which appeared in full IN the
Jackson News.
To say that the way the personal
injury business is now conducted
has produced widespread democrat.
izati0n, would be putting it mild.
~. There is a steady crop Of fake
cases which are much more dan
gerous than real ones. The most
dangerous Of all is the ease in
which a slight accident in fact oc.
CURED and in which the injuries
are either quite fictitious or cnOr
mously magnifed. There is here a
foundation Of fact ready to be en-
broidered by most magnificent lic.
ton and with highly profitable re
turns. The practice of charging a
contingent fee in such cases has
spread from lawyers to physicians
rs well. Not only the honorable
lawyer, but the honorable physi-
clan has sometimes the sore temp
tation of watching great returns 90
to the INSCRIPTIONS. The whole
system of founding liability upon
FAULT has broken down under the
practice, which might as well be
ecognized, of holding the defend
mt liable without regard to fault,
tut of sympathy for the real or
supposed injuries of the plaintiff.
The following implies that Mis-
ilssippi, or celtain Mississippi
Duntits, is the most favored field
Ior carrying on the ''pcrsonal in
Try business:
1t has become common practice
" persons injured in Louisiana
} sue in Mississippi where the
roads cost of living is much
''gher, and recently my attention
vas called to the fact that suits
Ire likewise being brought in Mis-
'Ss'npl for personal injuries DC
'ur ing in Tennessee. Not only is
true, but the litigation in
Mississippi is being centralized in
certain tavorite counties which
Ire booming known to be places
where large verdicts are habitual.
y rendered-certain cases, as it
we're, in the desert of Justice,
where the fierce heat of the law is
empered 10y streams of sympathy
nd the weary litigant can rest un
Ter the shade of a magnificent
'erdict and feed upon a golden
hake.down of dates out of the
tricken branches of a railroad
ompany.
After relating the influence of
he personal injury litigation
reatment upon railroad building.
lr. Lee explained how its exccs.
I'VE exactions operated in proven
ion of rate reductions; thus bring
ng the burthcn directly home to
he people. He then pointed out
mother interesting feature.
AS showing the extent to which
he evil has grown within the last
even years, ! give the figures of
hat the Illinois Central system
rs paid out in damage suits upon l
IS 1913 miles in Mississippi Gin.
Iudlng the Illinois Central and {
ne Nazoo u Mississippi Valley !,
nCs) and its 2,5I1 miles in Iii |
ois respectively. In this com !
1T should he borne in mind )
OF only that the mileage is much
reater In the state of Illinois, but |
lat the country is very much (
lore thickly settled there and {
lat the traffic is very much dens. a
so that the number of personal v
lures which occur is very much c
Featcr in Illinois than in M+issis. s
ppi.
| read here a statement of d
mounts paid out in judgments /;
net settlements on account of per. ;,
mai injuries by the Illinois Cen. :
al system in Illinois and Missis. t
ppi respectively, 1906 to 1912 0