Tort Reform Bill Spurs Debate (Austin American-Statesman)
What happened: On April 16, in a major move, the Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 30 by a vote of 20-11.
Tort Reform Bill Spurs Debate (Austin American-Statesman)
What happened: On April 16, in a major move, the Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 30 by a vote of 20-11.
What happened: On April 16, in a major move, the Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 30 by a vote of 20-11. The common-sense lawsuit reform bill by Sen. Charles Schwertner will bring uniformity to Texas courtrooms by defining the noneconomic damages of pain and suffering and mental anguish, assuring that harmed persons are fully compensated on a fair and reasonable basis. Read more
Remind me: SB 30 was named among Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s top priority bills in March. Upon Senate passage of SB 30, Lt. Gov. Patrick said, “Nuclear verdicts have major financial consequences and can leave individuals and businesses in ruins. These monstrous verdicts drive up insurance costs for Texans and make it harder for businesses to effectively operate in Texas. I thank Sen. Schwertner for his leadership on this critical issue.”
Tell me more: Critically, SB 30 would limit the evidence of medical damages that plaintiffs may submit at trial to 300% of the 2025 Medicare reimbursement rate with an adjustment for inflation. The provision is meant to prevent lawyers from “colluding with providers who over-diagnose, overbill and overtreat” victims to come up with inflated medical charges. Additionally, SB 30 makes clear that noneconomic awards cannot be used to punish defendants, make an example to others or serve a social good.
TLR Thoughts: Senate passage of SB 30 is a meaningful step toward real reform—and a win for every Texan. The bill now heads to the Texas House, where it will be carried by Rep. Greg Bonnen.
What happened: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has signed into law a comprehensive tort reform package aimed at leveling the playing field in courtrooms, stabilizing insurance costs and increasing transparency and fairness in civil litigation. Read more
How it works: The new law reevaluates premises liability standards, truth‑in‑damages calculations for medical costs, bans arbitrary “anchoring” of noneconomic damages and permits a party to bifurcate trials and file a motion to dismiss in lieu of an answer.
It also brings transparency to third‑party litigation funding and prohibits hostile foreign actors from exploiting Georgia’s courts.
In his own words: “Today is a victory for the people of our state who for too long were suffering the impacts of an out‑of‑balance legal environment” — Gov. Brian Kemp.
TLR Thoughts: TLR applauds Gov. Kemp and Georgia’s lawmakers for enacting one of the most meaningful tort reform packages in decades. Georgia’s meaningful reforms will ensure that truly injured victims can recover fair compensation while preventing frivolous lawsuits from driving up costs for businesses and families. TLR—alongside the Lone Star Economic Alliance (LSEA), a business coalition comprised of 1,150 Texas job creators, individuals and associations from every corner of the state—is urging Texas legislators to pass similar reforms through SB 30.
What happened: A growing number of companies—including Tesla, TripAdvisor, Dropbox and Meta—are reincorporating outside of Delaware amid legal unpredictability, prompting Delaware to advance Senate Bill 21, its most significant corporate-law overhaul since 1967. Read more
Tell me more: Delaware has long been favored for its business-friendly laws and over 200 years of corporate case law—which over the years has drawn roughly two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies and 80% of newly public firms—but recent court decisions and franchise taxes have spurred firms to explore alternatives.
In 2023, TLR worked hard to ensure the enactment of legislation creating a specialized business court in Texas that would handle complex business-to-business litigation—a major economic development tool for the state—as well as the Fifteenth Court of Appeals, which handles appeals for the business court and important cases involving the State of Texas. By building a judiciary tailored for corporate cases, Texas has positioned itself as a serious contender for incorporation.
TLR Thoughts: The creation of the Texas Business Court remains one of the most transformative steps the state has ever taken to strengthen Texas’s economic competitiveness. TLR is working with the Texas Legislature to further enhance the Business Court through HB 40 by Rep. Brooks Landgraf and SB 2883 by Sen. Bryan Hughes, as well as the state’s corporate governance laws through SB 29 by Sen. Bryan Hughes and HB 15 by Rep. Morgan Meyer. Collectively, these efforts will help position Texas as a major challenger to the decades-long dominance of Delaware’s business courts.
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