By GREGORY BUNTAIN
Los Alamos

Alarm bells immediately went off while reading Daymon Ely’s February 3, 2026, opinion piece in the Los Alamos Daily Post, “Reasonable malpractice reform benefits every New Mexican” (link). Mr. Ely asserts that the amendment weakening House Bill 99—inserted by Rep. Liz Thomson, one of the top ten recipients of contributions from the New Mexico Trial Lawyers PAC—“benefits every New Mexican.” That claim deserves skepticism. It certainly benefits Mr. Ely.

Mr. Ely is not a neutral observer. He is a longtime malpractice trial lawyer and a direct beneficiary of the amendment he praises. The bill he criticizes was co-sponsored by Los Alamos’ own Rep. Chris Chandler, a Democrat. Yet Mr. Ely dismisses opposition as coming from “Republican legislators who want to weaken HB99,” a framing that conveniently ignores the obvious financial interests at stake.

Any remaining doubt about Mr. Ely’s impartiality is resolved by his own published case history. On his website, Mr. Ely highlights multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements, including a $33 million jury verdict against a law firm, a $3 million verdict against the New Mexico State Highway Department, and numerous cases involving substantial punitive damages—damages explicitly designed to punish defendants. He further notes appellate victories that expanded plaintiffs’ discovery rights, increased access to insurance proceeds, and helped shape malpractice law in New Mexico.

There is nothing improper about representing plaintiffs or advocating for one’s professional interests. But it is disingenuous to present such advocacy as benefiting “every New Mexican,” particularly when the practical effect is to preserve a legal environment that enriches a very small, very specific group—of which Mr. Ely is a member.