William W. Horton, a partner on the Healthcare team in the Birmingham office, was recently quoted in a HealthcareDive article "GOP Eyes Medical Tort Reform." Mr. Horton comments on the Innocent Party Protection Act H.R. 725, one of four tort reform bills currently advancing in the House. The Act would make it more difficult for plaintiffs to prevent defendants in diversity jurisdiction cases from removing cases from state court to federal court.  Mr. Horton says, "This bill is aimed at addressing the problem of 'fraudulent joinder,' where the plaintiff allegedly adds a non-diverse defendant solely to get the case back to state court. How big a problem this is anybody’s guess; the trial lawyers say it's not and that this is just another effort by the Republicans to protect corporate defendants." Please  click here to read the full article.