In this issue...

Tort Reform Dies!

Premises Liability Passage Impossible

An Open Memo

Thank You, Representative Nixon

Statewide Trade Association Endorsements

Local Trade Association Endorsements

Chamber Of Commerce Endorsements

Texans For Lawsuit Reform Legislation

Over and Out ” For Now

Thank You For Supporting Our Organization

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TORT REFORM DIES!

When the 75th regular legislative session adjourned on June 2, hopes for meaningful tort reform officially died, despite the desire of an overwhelming majority of Texans for further reform of our state™s civil justice system. In the months ahead, we will undertake a careful and thorough analysis of the session to determine why this happened, with a focus on the House Civil Practices Committee where the bills either died outright or were passed out in weakened form. We will conduct this analysis with an open mind, evaluating all possible future options and choosing the course which we believe will be most beneficial for all Texans.

As the following summary shows, the TLR agenda fell victim to relentless attack this session, particularly in the Civil Practices Committee. The TLR agenda is good for the people of Texas and we are disappointed and frustrated with this outcome. But our resolve has not been weakened and we intend to move forward in the wisest way possible to ensure the self-interested forces who oppose the completion of tort reform will not prevail again.

1. Stopping the importation of out-of-state lawsuits (SB 220 by Sen. Bivins and Rep. Junell): While the Legislature passed a bill that will stop Texas from being a dumping ground for lawsuits from all over the country, the House Civil Practices Committee weakened the bill™s treatment of the tens of thousands of lawsuits already here. Although the Senate approved a version that would have allowed pending cases to be dismissed, the final version only allows dismissal of suits filed after January 1, 1997.

2. Reforming third party liability (HB 1020 by Rep. Junell and Sen. Duncan): TLR began the session hoping the Legislature would pass reforms to give the jury the right to hear evidence about the negligence of all potentially responsible parties.

We also hoped for a œstatutory employer solution to the problem of injured workers suing parties that had virtually nothing to do with the injury (property owners or general contractors, for instance). Before this bill was even filed, it became clear the Civil Practices Committee as well as Senator Sibley (chairman of the Senate Economic Development Committee) would not agree to a œstatutory employer solution. A wellattended hearing on the bill before the House Civil Practices Committee, excluding the statutory employer language, took place in mid-March, with many supporters coming to Austin from all over Texas. The hearing was followed by circulation of a letter addressing the various questions raised during the hearing and the bill was revised again to address the concerns of several key committee members. Despite these good-faith efforts, we could never persuade a majority of the committee™s members to vote the bill out of committee.

3. Reforming premises liability (HB 1202 by Rep. Uher and Sen. Fraser): This important bill consumed more of TLR™s time this session than any other legislation. A hearing took place before the House Civil Practices Committee in late March, followed by weeks of negotiations and redrafting. Our efforts to craft a meaningful bill that could get out of committee ultimately failed, however, and the committee voted out a very weak version. The full House rejected two amendments to improve the bill, and the House bill was voted out of the Senate Economic Development Committee in mid-May, still in a very weakened form that TLR could not accept. The bill™s author, Sen. Fraser, decided to kill the legislation when it became apparent the House would not accept any Senate efforts to make meaningful improvements.

4. Reforming the way actual judgments are awarded and calculated (HB 1022 by Rep. Hilbert and Sen. Armbrister): As filed, this bill made important changes in the collateral source rule (where plaintiffs can seek relief for damages that have already been compensated by insurance or other sources) and barred prejudgment interest on non-economic damages and damages that will occur in the future. After a hearing in mid-April, the Civil Practices Committee voted out a weakened bill that removed the collateral source provisions and barred prejudgment interest only on future damages. After a paperwork delay of 7 days, the bill was sent to the House Calendars Committee, which sets bills for floor debate. This weakened bill died in the Calendars Committee on a vote of 3-5.

5. CPA privity (SB 275 by Sen. Sibley and Rep. Brimer): The Senate approved the CPA privity bill early in March, rejecting a floor amendment that would have weakened the bill. It was then heard in the House Civil Practices Committee several weeks later. The proponents of the legislation killed the bill themselves when it became apparent that the committee wanted to weaken the bill to a point where its passage would result in no meaningful improvements to the law.

6. Giving judges the power to dismiss non-meritorious lawsuits (HB 95 by Rep. Nixon and Sen. Brown): The House Civil Practices Committee voted out a version of this bill. The bill was then withdrawn from consideration by the full House at the author™s request because of the Supreme Court™s intent to adopt a rule that would be stronger than the committee report.

7. Creating tangible economic incentives for parties to make and accept reasonable settlement offers (HB 2895 by Rep. Cuellar and Sen. Ratliff): A hearing on this bill took place in late April before the House Civil Practices Committee and it died as pending business. The necessary support (5 out of 9 committeemembers) could not be obtained to bring the bill up for a vote.

8. Reforming contingency fees when reasonable settlement offers are promptly made (HB 1021 by Rep. Corte and Sen. Haywood): This bill, which was modeled on the widelypraised Manhattan Institute study that proposed a modified contingency fee approach for cases in which reasonable settlement offers are made in a timely fashion, was never given a hearing. The bill™s author believed that the committee was so hostile to the proposed reform that he did not request a hearing.

 

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PREMISES LIABILITY PASSAGE IMPOSSIBLE

TLR™s experience this session with the premises liability reform bill (HB 1202 by Rep. Uher and Sen. Fraser) demonstrates our commitment to work in good faith with members of the Legislature to reach a consensus on reform. More than any other legislation this session, it also summarizes our frustration and exasperation with this session™s results.

This important bill was based on our belief that current law affecting premises owners continues to hold responsible landowners liable for the random criminal acts of third parties, discourages economic investment in urban neighborhoods, and inhibits property owners from making their facilities available to charitable or nonprofit organizations for recreational or educational purposes.

Our reforms were designed to stop responsible landowners from being hurt by lawsuits arising from crimes that occur on their property by people outside their control, and to provide reasonable protections to landowners who generously make their property available to positive, youth-oriented organizations.

A hearing on the bill took place before the House Civil Practices Committee in late March. Even in advance of the hearing, TLR made several changes to the bill to address concerns of committee members. Although many of the criticisms leveled against the bill were misplaced or simply wrong, some of the concerns resulting from the rewrite were valid. Over the next month, TLR worked diligently with other like-minded organizations and bill sponsor, Rep. Uher to fashion a bill that addressed the legitimate concerns while still making meaningful improvements to Texas premises liability law.

These efforts, which resulted in numerous additional rewrites of the bill, arose from our sincere desire to work with the committee to produce reasonable but effective legislation. Ultimately, our willingness to work in a good faith manner within the legislative process was not rewarded by the committee because it chose to vote out a version of the bill which TLR could not support. Not only did the bill fail to achieve meaningful reform, the legislation was actually worse than present case-law in defining the duties a landowner owes to customers or social guests.

When the bill came up for consideration by the full House in May, Rep. Uher amended the legislation to correct the section that was worse than existing law. But efforts to make further improvements to the bill failed. An amendment that would have strengthened the liability standard used in third-party criminal acts lawsuits failed 80-53 and another that would have provided standards to guide landowners in taking steps to protect their property from criminal acts was defeated 75-61.

The hearing in the Senate Economic Development Committee was extraordinary. Don Bowen, a representative of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, was allowed to express objections to the bill after the hearing had previously been officially closed. Rep. Uher and Rep. Gray (chair of the Civil Practices Committee) were on hand to discourage the senators from making any changes to the bill. It is highly unusual (perhaps unprecedented) for members of the House to attend Senate hearings to urge the senators to resist changes to a House bill.

The bill™s Senate sponsor, Sen. Fraser, did not pursue amendments in committee because changes would have kept the committee paperwork from being processed by a key end-ofsession deadline. However, the pressures that were applied during the hearing did not abate and Senator Fraser, with TLR™s concurrence, concluded that passage of a meaningful premises liability bill this session was impossible. As a result, he decided not to bring the bill up for consideration by the full Senate.

Our experience with this bill was deeply frustrating. Even more discouraging, however, is the effect failure to pass a meaningful premises liability bill will have on responsible landowners in Texas or non-profit organizations that are denied use of urban land for recreational or educational purposes.

 

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AN OPEN MEMO

FROM:	LEO LINBECK, JR. CHAIRMAN
TO:	TLR SUPPORTERS

The 1997 legislative session has drawn to a close. It is clear that the forces opposed to finishing the job of tort reform prevailed in this session, because little substantive reform passed into law. This is true even though the overwhelming majority of Texans want further reform of our civil justice system to restore full balance and fairness to Texas tort law.

Why did the tort reform agenda get bottled up in the Civil Practices Committee of the House of Representatives? Why were the few tort reform bills that were reported out of committee so weakened and diminished as not to be true reforms?

In typical TLR fashion, we will complete a very careful and comprehensive review of the session in the coming months. After we have the information on which sound judgments can be made, we will issue a full and candid report on the lessons learned from this session and our recommendations for future action.

We are more committed then ever to completing the TLR mission: reclaiming the civil justice laws of Texas so that every person, whether he is seeking just compensation for an injury or defending himself against a spurious claim, can access our courts with confidence in a fair and impartial outcome.

We know that you share our disappointment, frustration, and exasperation. The TLR agenda is good for the people of Texas. The people had a huge victory in the last session with the passage of the historic tort reform package that was enacted into law in 1995. This session was a defeat for the people of Texas. Our task is to move forward in the wisest way possible to assure that the narrow interests who oppose the completion of tort reform do not again prevail.

 

 

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THANK YOU, REPRESENTATIVE NIXON

While the 75th regular session was a clear disappointment for TLR and its many supporters, there were some individual bright spots. Rep. Joe Nixon, a member of the Civil Practices Committee from Houston, was clearly one of them. No legislator played a steadier or more consistently positive role in the tort reform effort than Rep. Nixon.

In addition to asking good, solid questions in the Civil Practices Committee, and defending the TLR legislation from mischaracterizations during committee hearings, Rep. Nixon also led the effort to improve the premises liability bill on the House floor.

By taking a principled stand on the House floor, and earning his stripes in committee, Rep. Nixon earned our gratitude and our respect. We look forward to working with him in future sessions.

 

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STATEWIDE TRADE ASSOCIATION ENDORSEMENTS

American Alliance for Rights & Responsibilities

American Collectors Association of Texas

American Society of Civil Engineers - Texas 7,000 members

Associated Builders & Contractors of Texas 1,300 member firms

Associated General Contractors - Tx Bldg Branch 400 member companies

Association of Chemical Industry of Texas 500 member companies & 1,450 individuals

Automotive Wholesalers of Texas 1,000 member companies

Consulting Engineers Council of Texas 250 member firms

Independent Bankers Association of Texas 800 member banks

Independent Cattleman™s Association of Texas 5,500 members

Lumberman™s Association of Texas 800 member companies

Mechanical Contractors Association of Texas

National Federation of Independent Business 45,000 member businesses

Printing Industries Association of Texas 1,200 member companies

Rural Rental Housing Association of Texas 800 member companies

Southwest Association 692 member companies

Southwest Meat Association 250 member companies

State Firemen™s & Fire Marshals™ Assn of Tx 900 member dept & 13,000 individuals

Texas Ag Industries Association 300 member companies

Texas Aggregates and Concrete Association 300 member companies

Texas Agricultural Cooperative Council 100,000 member farmers

Texas Air Conditioning Contractors Association 600 member companies

Texas and SW Cattle Raisers Association 14,000 members

Texas Apartment Association, Inc. 8,000 member companies

Texas Association of Builders 7,500 building companies

Texas Assn of Business & Chambers of Commerce 5,000 business members & over 200 chambers

Texas Assn. of Homes & Services for the Aging 160 non-profit facilities

Texas Association of Life Underwriters

Texas Association of Nurserymen 1,450 companies

Texas Association of Realtors 45,000 members

Tx Assn of Residential Care Communities

Texas Association of Wholesale Distributors, Inc.

Texas Cattle Feeders Association 8,590 members

Texas Chemical Council 96 member companies

Texas Citrus Mutual

Texas Cotton Ginners™ Association 600 member companies

Texas Food Industry Association 1,800 member companies

Texas Forestry Association 3,200 members

Texas Gas Association

Texas Grain & Feed Association 900 member companies

Texas Health Care Association 900 member companies & 1,100 individuals

Texas Hospital Association 515 member hospitals & 4,526 individuals

Texas Hotel and Motel Association 700 member hotels & motels

Texas Housing Association 420 member agencies

Texas Independent Automotive Association 300 dealer members

Texas Insurance Professionals 250 members

Texas Land Title Association

Texas Lathing & Plastering Contractors

Texas Medical Association 33,000 members

Texas Osteopathic Medical Association 1,500 members Tx Petroleum Mktrs & Convenience Store Assn Texas Physical Therapy Association 4,000 members

Texas Rental Association 500 member companies

Texas Restaurant Association

Texas Risk Retention Association 1,377 member companies

Texas Seed Trade Association 228 companies

Texas Sign Manufacturers Association 150 companies

Texas Society of Architects

Tx Society of Certified Public Accountants 31,450 members

Texas Society of Internal Medicine 1,500 members

Texas Society of Medical Assistants 455 Members

Texas Society of Professional Engineers 6,500 members

Texas Society of Professional Surveyors 2,100 members

Texas State Florists™ Association

Texas Tire Dealers & Retreaders Assn

Texas Waterway Operators Association 397 member companies

Textile Maintenance Association of Texas

 

 

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LOCAL TRADE ASSOCIATION ENDORSEMENTS

Apartment Association of Greater Dallas

Apartment Association of Southeast Texas

Apartment Association of Tarrant County

Assoc Builders & Contractors of Tx/Central Texas

Assoc Builders & Contractors of Tx/Coastal Bend

Assoc Builders & Contractors of Tx/Gulf Coast

Assoc Builders & Contractors of Tx/Houston

Assoc Builders & Contractors of Tx/Mid Coast

Assoc Builders & Contractors of Tx/North Texas

Assoc Builders & Contractors of Tx/South Texas

Assoc Builders & Contractors of Tx/Southest Tx

Assoc General Contractors of America, Inc./Austin

Associated General Contractors, Inc./Houston

Associated General Contractors/Dallas

Assn. of Consulting Municipal Engineers/Houston

Austin Apartment Association

Austin Board of Realtors

Bay Area Board of Realtors/Houston

Building Owners & Managers Association/Austin

Building Owners & Managers Association/Houston

Builders Association/Fort Worth & Tarrant County

Chambers County

Consulting Engineers Council of Tx/San Antonio

Corpus Christi Apartment Association

Fort Bend Association of Realtors

Greater Dallas Association of Realtors

Greater Houston Builders Association

Greater Houston Hospital Council

Gulf Coast Grocery Assn. of Texas

Home Builders Assoc. of Southeast Texas

Hotel Association of Tarrant County

Houston Apartment Association

Houston Assoc. of Insurance Agents

Houston Assoc. of Life Underwriters

Houston Association of Realtors

Institute of Real Estate Management/Austin

Institute of Real Estate Management/Houston

Jefferson County Medical Society

Lubbock Apartment Association

Mechanical Contractors Assn/Houston

North Texas Oil & Gas Association

Permian Basin Petroleum Association

Retail Merchants Association/Houston

San Antonio Apartment Association, Inc.

Temple Area Home Builders Association

Texas Capitol Area Builders Association

Texas Society of C. P. A.™s/Houston Chapter

Tritech Regional Council

United Property Owners™ Assn./Houston

 

 

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CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ENDORSEMENTS

Amarillo Chamber of Commerce

Arlington Chamber of Commerce

Athens Chamber of Commerce

Beaumont Chamber of Commerce

Bellville Chamber of Commerce

Belton Area Chamber of Commerce

Bryan-College Station Chamber of Commerce

Canton Texas Chamber of Commerce

Cedar Hill Chamber of Commerce

Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce

Denison Area Chamber of Commerce

DeSoto Chamber of Commerce

East End Area Chamber of Commerce

Eastland Chamber of Commerce

Everman Area Chamber of Commerce

Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce

Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce

Frisco Chamber of Commerce

Galveston Chamber of Commerce

Giddings Chamber of Commerce

Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce

Greater Corpus Christi Business Alliance

Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce

Greater Houston Partnership

Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce

Greater Killeen Chamber of Commerce

Greater New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce

Greater Orange Area Chamber of Commerce

Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce

Greenville Chamber of Commerce

Hallettsville Chamber of Comm.& Agriculture

Harker Heights Chamber of Commerce

Harris County S.E. Economic Development Council

Houston County Chamber of Commerce

Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce

Humble Area Chamber of Commerce

Longview Partnership

Lufkin/Angelina County Chamber of Commerce

Marble Falls-Lake LBJ Chamber of Commerce

McAllen Chamber of Commerce

Midland Chamber of Commerce

Northeast Tarrant Chamber of Commerce

North Houston Association

North Houston Greenspoint Chamber of Commerce

Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce

Pampa Chamber of Commerce

Pasadena Chamber of Commerce

Plano Chamber of Commerce

Raymondville Chamber of Commerce

Rockdale Chamber of Commerce

San Angelo Chamber of Commerce

Shamrock Chamber of Commerce

Shelby County Chamber of Commerce

South Montgomery County-Woodlands Chamber

South San Antonio Chamber of Commerce

Stratford Chamber of Commerce

Taft Chamber of Commerce

Temple Chamber of Commerce

Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce

Weatherford/Parker Economic Development

Westchase Business Council

Wharton Chamber of Commerce

Yoakum Area Chamber of Commerce

 

 

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TEXANS FOR LAWSUIT REFORM LEGISLATION

 

DISPOSITION OF TLR BILLS
	HOUSE CIVIL PRACTICES COMMITTEE	HOUSE CALENDARS COMMITTEE	FULL HOUSE	FULL SENATE	GOVERNOR
SB 220 (Out-Of-State Suits)	Weakened in committee				Signed into law.
HB 1020 (Third Party Liability)	Died in committee
HB 1202 (Premises Liability)	Weakened in committee			Died without being considered*
HB 1022 (Judgment Reform)	Weakened in committee	Died in committee
SB 275 (CPA Privity)	Died in committee
HB 95 (Summary Judgment)	Weakened in committee		Withdrawn at the author's request
HB 2895 (Offer of	Died in committee
HB 1021 (Contingency Fee Reform)	Died in committee
* Senator Fraser (the Senate sponsor) determined his strengthening amendments would not be accepted by the House and he consequently did not bring up his bill for a vote in the Senate in as much as it would have been a fruitless exercise.
1997 Legislative Session Adjourned on June 2, 1997

 

 

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Over and Out ” For Now

One June 2, 1997, the 75th Legislative Session came to a close. Consequently, so did the Austin office of Texans for Lawsuit Reform. However, our Houston office is still in full swing at 1200 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 510 and our staff members would be more than happy to be of any assistance to our TLR supporters. Please feel free to contact us in the Houston office at (713) 963-9363 or fax us at (713) 963-9787.

 

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THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR ORGANIZATION

TLR™s legislative agenda this session enjoyed widespread”- perhaps unprecedented”- support by a wide variety of statewide and local organizations representing almost 300,000 individual Texans and 86,000 businesses, both large and small.

In total, 68 statewide trade organizations endorsed our agenda, 48 local trade associations endorsed our proposals, and 63 local Chambers of Commerce joined hands with us to promote positive changes to the state™s civil justice laws.

We appreciate the support, encouragement, and active assistance we received from these groups. To each of them, we™d like to offer a sincere œthank you and our assurances that our commitment and resolve have not been weakened by this session™s results. Our fight for a better Texas civil justice system is not over.