For nearly two decades, Texans have been angry, frustrated, and at times even fearful of their own civil justice system. But the last three years have been a turning point of historic proportions for our state™s tort laws. No longer the Lawsuit Capital of the World, Texans can finally point to their civil justice system and know that their courts, and their laws, are no longer blatantly biased.

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. 

The 75th regular legislative session is past its mid-point, and the focus of the Texans for Lawsuit Reform legislative agenda is on the House Civil Practices Committee. Two bills have already passed the Senate and are pending in Civil Practices: SB 275 pertaining to CPA privity and SB 220 addressing the problem of out-of-state lawsuits. The remaining tort reform bills are being taken up in the House first.