After Approval in Georgia, Tort Reform Advances in Texas and S.C. (Forbes)
What happened: Governors and lawmakers in Georgia, South Carolina and Texas are focusing on the ways in which their states’ legal climates are significant drivers of the cost of living and doing business.
What happened: Governors and lawmakers in Georgia, South Carolina and Texas are focusing on the ways in which their states’ legal climates are significant drivers of the cost of living and doing business. Read more
Tell me more: In Texas, lawmakers are considering legislation that aim to crack down on the ability to bring meritless lawsuits and win “nuclear verdicts:” SB 30 by Sen. Charles Schwertner and its companion, HB 4806 by Rep. Greg Bonnen, and SB 39 by Sen. Brian Birdwell and its companion, HB 4688 by Jeff Leach.
On March 31, the Senate State Affairs Committee heard SB 30. Job creators from every corner of Texas converged at the Capitol to testify in support of the bill, explaining how skyrocketing insurance costs are crippling their businesses. Ultimately, higher costs are passed through to consumers of goods and services.
Today, SB 39 and HB 4688 are being heard in the Senate Transportation Committee and in the House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence, respectively.
TLR Thoughts: Runaway lawsuits are placing Texas businesses of all sizes, across all sectors, in an extremely tenuous position. Texas job creators are being forced to raise prices, lay off employees or close their doors – ultimately harming the Texans these businesses serve every day. TLR is proud to work alongside the Lone Star Economic Alliance – a coalition of over 1,150 Texas businesses, individuals and business associations – to address the dire issue through the reforms included in these four bills.
What happened: Protecting American Consumers Together (PACT) has launched a major TV and radio ad campaign in Texas to support lawsuit abuse reform and to highlight the impact of abusive litigation on consumer costs and the state’s economy. Read more
Remind me: PACT is a national advocacy group that launched ads in Texas in late March to raise awareness of the consumers impacted by inflated costs, hidden fees and questionable tactics used by certain personal injury lawyers.
Tell me more: PACT’s new seven-figure, statewide ad campaign – “Strong” – highlights the need to “pass reform to end lawsuit abuse that hurts consumers, drives up everyday costs for all Texans, and fundamentally threatens the state’s strong economy.”
The ads follow the March 31 Senate State Affairs Committee hearing on SB 30, which exposed “the systemic approach some personal injury lawyers take to abuse their clients and drive up costs for all Texans.”
TLR Thoughts: Texas boasts the world’s eighth largest economy but is overdue for reforms that will rein in trial lawyer abuses and help restore fairness and transparency to Texas’s courts. Notably, SB 30 will help curb abusive lawsuits by: (1) encouraging doctors to treat accident victims; (2) stopping the manipulation and inflation of medical damages; and (3) educating jurors on noneconomic damages by providing clear standards and definitions.
