“When we base the value of our cases on the socioeconomic status of our clients we are complicit in a system wrought with discrimination.” -Courtney Rowley
What is most important to you? Is it your economic assets or your noneconomic assets?
Trial by Woman believes that no matter our differences, not matter our disagreements, we have a lot more in common than we think, especially when it comes to what we as human beings value most in our lives: our relationships, our experiences, our health, our families. In the law, this is called our noneconomic assets, or noneconomic damages.
When we define someone by their economic assets—how much money they make (or don’t), what educational opportunities they did (or didn’t) have, what their paycheck says (which is zero if they happen to be a stay at home mom or a student or a grandparent or a child), or what kind of health care they do (or don’t) have, we don’t just mistakenly undervalue our cases, we undervalue our collective humanity, and we are complicit in a system that legally reinforces the idea that certain (affluent) folks are worth more than others. This isn’t just unfair and unconstitutional, it’s prejudiced.
In a lot of states, there are measures on the upcoming ballot to cap, or limit, the values we share, what we call the human damages, noneconomic damages, to amounts proposed and favorable to the insurance defense industry.
You want to change the world?
Begin with changing how you value your cases.
And vote.
