"It is ironic that the very lawyers who are now calling themselves consumer attorneys' are kicking legal sand in the face of auto insurance consumers," said Mike Carpenter, Vice-President of the Civil Justice Association of California.

"Researchers at the respected Rand Institute of Civil Justice recently found that California motorists are paying two to three billion dollars a year in higher insurance premiums because of excessive and fraudulent medical cost claiming in auto accidents. The trial lawyers who profit immensely from auto cases have been the key roadblock to reforming these wasteful costs out of the system."

Proposition 213 prevents persons who are driving during the commission of a felony, drunk drivers, and lawbreaking motorists who drive without insurance from collecting non-economic (pain and suffering and emotional distress) damages when they file lawsuits. It passed with an overwhelming 77% of the vote in the November general election.

Even before Proposition 213 took effect in January, personal injury lawyers and their lobbying association began hosting seminars throughout the state to teach lawyers how to get around Proposition 213. They have been filing "canned briefs" in courts all across the state to disrupt the new law.

Tomorrow, the trial lawyers are set to go into Superior Court in San Francisco seeking a preliminary shutdown of Proposition 213.