A powerful state senator who is a medical-malpractice attorney has sparked a furor by pushing a bill to boost trial lawyers’ pay by eliminating 2-decade-old limits on legal fees in such cases.
Sen. John DeFrancisco (R-Syracuse), chairman of the Finance Committee, is “of counsel” to the Syracuse medical-malpractice law firm DeFrancisco & Falgiatano.
And watchdog groups say his advocacy for an end to limits on contingency fees is a blatant conflict of interest, while health-care-industry officials claim giving more money to attorneys could dramatically increase malpractice-insurance premiums for medical providers and reduce payouts to patients.
“It’s a conflict of interest for a lawyer to champion a bill that benefits his profession and his law firm,” said Citizens Union President Dick Dadey.
The bill also undercuts Gov. Cuomo’s bid to slash malpractice costs.
In response to medical-industry complaints about high malpractice premiums, Cuomo proposed a $250,000 cap on non-economic “pain and suffering” awards, to slash $700 million in costs.
In exchange, health-care providers and unions backed Cuomo’s plan to trim Medicaid.
Current law caps fees for attorneys who earn a percentage of what their clients win. They’re now paid on a sliding scale.
For example, lawyers can collect up to 30 percent on judgments of less than $250,000 but no more than 10 percent of awards of more than 1.25 million. DeFrancisco’s bill would abolish those limits.
“This bill would drastically worsen hospitals’ already oppressive medical-malpractice costs and threaten access to care. To enact it would be shameless,” said Brian Conway, spokesman for the Greater New York Hospital Association.
DeFrancisco declined comment.