Uber’s Fee-Cap Initiative: Destroying American Civil Justice

Let’s be clear: Uber is a fine company. It provides a valuable service. That’s why it’s successful. But success comes with responsibility. When a $52 billion global corporation puts hundreds of thousands of cars on California roads and millions more across the U.S. every day, that responsibility must mean being accountable when people are hurt by the service it provides.

Uber is trying to avoid accountability for the consequences of its enormous presence in our state. Mere decency requires that Uber step up and take responsibility. Civil justice demands that Uber answer for the conduct of its drivers.

Big corporations have turned California’s initiative process into a bait-and-switch. They craft measures with deceptive titles that sound pro-consumer, then spend tens of millions of dollars persuading voters to support measures that ultimately limit their own rights. Uber’s initiative is a textbook example.

The initiative is titled the “Protecting Automobile Accident Victims from Attorney Self-Dealing Act.” Sounds noble. But the actual text caps attorney fees at 25% after case expenses and medical costs, reducing lawyers’ real compensation to well below the advertised percentage. Many serious injury victims could find themselves unable to secure legal representation against Uber. The title promises protection. In reality, the law would protect corporations like Uber while making it harder for injured victims to find a lawyer willing and able to fight for them.

Here’s the real problem: nothing in this initiative limits what Uber can spend defending itself. Uber can continue pouring millions into lawyers, experts, and litigation costs, while injured victims face greater obstacles to obtaining legal representation. Uber generated more than $52 billion in global revenue in 2025 and doesn’t need this measure to protect victims. It needs it to protect its profits. The result is a system that stacks the deck in favor of a multi-billion-dollar corporation while making it harder for ordinary people to find someone willing and able to fight for them.

The Consumer Attorneys of California launched two counter-initiatives: one to increase rideshare liability for passenger injuries, and another guaranteeing the constitutional right to contract with any attorney on mutually agreed terms. Crucially, the rideshare liability measure would strengthen protections for female passengers by holding rideshare companies accountable for driver sexual assault. The CAOC-backed Alliance Against Corporate Abuse has reportedly raised more than $50 million to oppose Uber’s measure.

The reason trial lawyers are fighting this initiative is simple: they play an indispensable role in holding negligent corporations accountable. That’s what we do at MPTL. We represent injury victims and families who have lost loved ones because of another’s negligence. For decades, trial lawyers have served as one of the most effective checks on corporate misconduct. Without them, many injured people would have no realistic path to justice.

Who will protect pedestrians, other drivers, and passengers from dangerous rideshare conduct? This initiative isn’t about helping consumers; it’s about reducing accountability while Uber continues to generate billions and billions of dollars in revenue.

At McElroy Parris Trial Lawyers… We listen. We care. We demand justice.