Playing lawyer games with the recently passed malpractice cap in Florida. “Last year, state voters approved Amendment 3, which places strict limits on the contingency fees that lawyers can earn from representing people who sue doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers for malpractice. But lawyers have found a way to sidestep the cap: They ask clients to waive their rights under the amendment, allowing the attorneys to collect higher fees.

So the doctors have responded by asking the court to change the ethical rules that all lawyers in Florida must abide by. Over the summer, 54 lawyers — many of them with ties to the Florida Medical Association or to law firms that represent the FMA, insurance companies and other healthcare providers — asked the high court to force lawyers to follow Amendment 3.”