Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, a strong supporter of tort reform and caps on damage awards, receives $14,400 a month from the 1986 a settlement of a premises liability lawsuit he brought after an oak tree fell on him in 1984, leaving him paralyzed for the rest of his life.
In an article published Friday by The Texas Tribune, Abbott revealed that he receives the month payment and periodic lump sum payments as part of the settlement.
The publication estimates that Abbott will have received $5.8 million from the lawsuit settlement by the end of 2013 – an amount that will rise to more than $9 million by the end of 2022, when Abbott is 65.
Abbott, a Republican who has announced he is running for governor, tells the Texas Tribune that he would gladly give up all the money if he could walk again.
To read the full article, please visit http://www.texastribune.org/2013/08/02/greg-abbott-gets-millions-lawsuit-proceeds/.
Nowhere in the article does the Texas Tribune ask nor does Abbott address his political efforts to limit similar kinds of damage awards to those who have been injured as the result of malpractice by medical doctors and by those who seek punitive damages in premises liability or product liability case.