What happened: Uber has filed its third racketeering lawsuit this year against a group of personal injury lawyers and medical providers who allegedly directed Uber passengers to “’pre-selected medical providers’ who submitted inflated bills to treat negligible or non-existent injuries from minor collisions.”

Tell me more: The suit alleges that passengers were funneled to specific doctors who submitted excessive bills for negligible or non-existent injuries, allowing personal injury lawyers to secure fraudulently induced settlements by exploiting California’s state-mandated $1 million rideshare insurance requirement. Uber says one medical bill was 10 times the norm.

• Uber filed its first such case in New York, followed by a similar one in Florida.

Worth noting: The cost of these fraudulent lawsuits is ultimately passed down to customers in the form of higher trip fares.

TLR Thoughts: The improper coordination between certain personal injury lawyers and certain medical providers contributes to skyrocketing insurance premiums and undermines public trust in the civil justice system. The prevalence of these schemes in all corners of the nation highlights the urgent need for meaningful reforms that promote transparency, discourage fraudulent legal practices and ensure the civil justice system serves Texans, not those who exploit it.

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