What happened: Rampant attorney advertising is fueling America’s $500 billion litigation industry, and families and job creators are paying the price.

By the numbers: A 2020 study found that Texas families pay an extra $3,904 in costs associated with litigation—more than the national average of $3,621—and up from $3,535 in 2018.

• Nationally, from 2016 to 2020, the direct economic costs of the tort system grew at an annual rate of six percent, more than twice as fast as GDP.

How it works: Personal injury trial lawyers blanket the airwaves with ads for legal services, touting multimillion-dollar judgments they’ve obtained for past clients.

• These ads do two things: they set the expectation that every incident is worthy of a lawsuit, no matter who was at fault. And they set the expectation that every lawsuit is worthy of a big payday.

• For the potential client, there is no downside. Why not roll the dice to see if you can get some money? For the potential juror, it lays the foundation for the types of nuclear verdicts we’re seeing more and more in courtrooms.

• The fees won in these lawsuits are then used to buy more personal injury ads, fueling the litigation lifecycle.

So who loses? Texas job creators, whose insurance premiums are rising because it’s not a matter of if they will be sued, but when. And Texas families, as the increased cost of doing business is baked into the price of goods and services they need.

TLR Thoughts: The Lone Star State has worked hard to build the Texas Miracle, but ignoring our nuclear verdict problem puts that all at risk. As Texans’ pocketbooks are increasingly hit by inflation, the Legislature should do everything it can to keep abusive and unnecessary lawsuits from jacking up the cost of doing business for job creators, and of the products and services we all use every day.

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