The insurance companies did a great job convincing voters that caps would be good for Colorado. That it would somehow save money in insurance payouts and that saving would be passed on to you. I don’t know anyone who paid less insurance as a result. In fact, my insurance has gone up every year. But I do know a lot of people –too many people in Colorado –who had a loved one stolen from them due to the negligence of others, and due to the caps, they couldn’t even find a lawyer who would take the case.

You might be thinking, “why do you need money after a loved one is killed by medical malpractice? If that loved one was the bread winner, there is no one to support the family anymore. Think about the emotional pain of suddenly losing your spouse or parent. The survivors often need financial and emotional support. Wrongful death shatters a family.

In most other states, wrongful death cases are worth millions. Here in Colorado, your case is worth more if you break some bones in a car crash. I always thought Coloradans were getting a raw deal.

That’s why I was so relieved to read Colorado governor Jared Polis signed a new law that raises the cap for victims of wrongful death due to negligence from a couple hundred thousand to a couple a million.

The law doesn’t take effect until 2025.

Still, it means Coloradans will finally have a chance to receive financial justice. Doctors, nurses, medical staff and the hospitals they work for will be punished in the pocketbook for making mistakes that cost lives.

No amount of money can replace someone you love, not now, not ever. But Colorado’s cap was salt in the wound for so many families.

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I know what you are thinking, “what? I hate lawyers, what do you mean, lawyers are good people?” Well, they are.

I am just returning from the Western trial lawyers association convention in Park City, Utah. I sponsor this convention because it’s a great way to market Heidi Hemmat Productions. As many of you already know, when I left my investigative reporter position at KDVR/KWGN, I started my own business–producing documentaries about severely injured people that help settle their legal cases out of court.

When I attend these conventions, I often listen to the lawyer’s presentations. If you hate lawyers, you probably assume the attorneys are talking about their biggest cases, the ones where they made the most money. So, you might be surprised to learn, most often, they are talking about the cases they took on because it was the right thing to do–cases about old people abused in nursing homes (usually–no money in that), or little kids molested by catholic priests–(hard to believe, but there’s no money in that either). I listen to their stories with awe and amazement, especially when I see grown men, tough attorneys, choking back the tears. Many of their presentations make me want to cry because, I too, have spent most of my life looking into the eyes of people who have been through enormous pain. I’ve cried with them, I cry afterwards, sometimes I think about them in the middle of the night. I never, ever forget them. I pray for them and everyday I thank God–that there but for the grace of God go I.

So trust me when I say, lawyers are good people. Yes, there are jerks in every profession. A lot of people hate reporters too, but when I think about all the good I was able to do for people by simply telling their stories with compassion and empathy–I know I was helping people. Now I feel like I am doing my life’s work–because the people I do documentaries about–their stories aren’t “newsworthy” but what happened to them is every bit as bad and many of them live in a private hell–unable to even tell their own stories. Those people need me, and they need their lawyers, especially the ones who aren’t afraid to cry.

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