In the News

Tort lawyers often use the threat of jackpot verdicts to extort settlements from business targets. But when does a shakedown become criminal extortion? Last week the federal government charged Timothy Litzenburg for allegedly crossing that legal line.

“While lawsuits over lip balm, chocolate or ice cream are funny, frivolous lawsuits are a serious problem that affect everyone,” said Institute for Legal Reform Chief Operating Officer Harold Kim. “A recent study found that the U.S. spends $429 billion on civil lawsuits—or more than $3,000 per household. That’s no laughing matter.”

Louisiana unfortunately is a perpetual fixture on the American Tort Reform Foundation’s “Judicial Hellholes” list, which identifies those states with civil justice systems that allow lawsuit abuse to flourish. In the newly released 2019-2020 report, Louisiana was ranked the fourth-worst judicial hellhole in the country, rising a spot from last year’s No. 5 ranking.

“The spawn of litigation brought by plaintiffs law firms representing counties, cities and tribes in the opioid litigation is really the single greatest threat to attorneys general that we have seen in this country,” Connell said. “By alleging the same causes of action and the same claims that are being brought by attorneys general on behalf of entire states, we’re now seeing something close to 35,000 lawsuits all across the country in different state and federal courts.”

In a critically worded 55-page decision that wasn’t exactly a surprise and at one point referred to the case as “an ill-conceived initiative of the Office of the Attorney General,” Supreme Court Judge Barry Ostrager said New York failed to prove ExxonMobil misled investors about the impact of climate change even under the state’s extraordinarily loose Martin Act, which doesn’t require proof a company acted with bad intent or that investors relied on what the company said.

More than 500 cities and counties opted out of the unprecedented “negotiation class” proposed by plaintiff lawyers to settle sprawling opioid litigation, leaving 98% of the 34,458 U.S. cities and counties technically still in the class.

When a fellow former law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia claims that our client, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, betrays conservative legal ideals through its unyielding opposition to abuse of class-action suits by the plaintiffs’ bar, we take it seriously. But the argument that Professor Brian Fitzpatrick raised in his November 13 National Review piece does not stand up to scrutiny.

Trial lawyer ads are everywhere: television, the radio, even on social media. Many ads use blaring headlines, dire warnings, and even government agency logos to claim doctor-prescribed medications could be deadly… These ads promise big money if consumers sign up to sue.

Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan has won Commissioners Court approval to opt out of a group that includes all cities and counties in the U.S. that have been impacted by the opioid crisis. The group is a first-of-its-kind “negotiating class,” established to promote settlements in cases brought by 2,800 local governments nationwide against opioid manufacturers, distributors and sellers.

The real debate on climate change is happening in the courtrooms. Lawsuits are one key piece of the puzzle to getting big change on energy and climate policy. Even if advocates don’t win in court, they still draw media attention and put pressure on their targets.