Re: Attorney Assessment Raised to $75 by the State Senate

Dear New Jersey State Bar Association Member:

The NJSBA strongly opposes the $75 attorney assessment proposed in the medical malpractice bills pending in the State Legislature. We have expressed our objections to the State Legislature, Governor, Attorney General and Judiciary. Our position has been widely disseminated to all NJSBA members and on our website. Many of you have responded by sending individual letters of opposition. While we deeply appreciate your efforts, unfortunately, more needs to be done. We continue to meet with legislative leaders to address this issue of vital importance. The Legislature is currently in budget recess for the month of April, and is expected to return to voting session in May, and is likely to vote on it at that time.

On March 15th, the General Assembly approved (46-17-16) ACS-50 (Roberts/Cohen/Weinberg/McKeon), concerning medical malpractice reform, which would, among other things, assess every attorney $50 for the next three years to bail out high-risk specialty physicians facing rising premiums. On March 29th, the Senate approved (21-15) a similar bill, raising the assessment to $75.00. While many changes were made, some of the most significant for attorneys would revise the amounts allocated for the Medical Malpractice Liability Insurance Premium Assistance Fund to direct $1 million for a medical student loan reimbursement program and again increase the annual assessment fee on attorneys from $50 to $75. (The attorney fee would expire after three years.)

We believe it is important for you to know how the members of the State Legislature voted on these bills. Click here to access a listing of the voting record of each member of the State Legislature, particularly highlighting the vote taken by lawyers on this bill. (Names in bold face denotes NJ lawyers; "-" denotes the legislator did not vote; "A" denotes abstention.)