Friends,
Texas didn’t become an economic leader by accident, and it won’t stay one by default.
As affordability becomes the defining issue for voters, the role trial lawyers play in driving up insurance costs and everyday prices is becoming harder to ignore. Texans are feeling it at the kitchen table: when trial lawyers abuse the courts for profit, families and employers pay more.
The question now is whether Texas will defend the reforms that built the Texas Miracle or allow trial lawyers to drag the state backward while other states move ahead.
Texas is at risk of losing the competitive edge that made the Texas Economic Miracle possible. As Early Voting for the spring primary elections draws near — February 17-27 — the call to action is getting louder for pro-business, pro-tort reform candidates.
Across the country, state legislatures are meeting to consider advancing tort reform. In states like Florida and Georgia, tort reform has clearly improved affordability for home and auto insurance markets. Other states, like Louisiana, Montana, and Indiana, have also cracked down on third-party financing that allows investors to profit from lawsuits that are driving up costs for families and businesses.
The consequences are predictable. When lawmakers side with trial lawyers who oppose meaningful reform, affordability suffers. Insurance costs rise. Competition shrinks. Families pay more. Businesses lose certainty. And Texans notice.
That’s why it is vital for the business community to take action in the upcoming Primary Elections on March 3rd. The best way to protect and grow the Texas Economic Miracle is to support candidates who will deliver pro-business, pro-tort reform policies. Those policies will improve affordability while maintaining coverage for millions of individuals, homeowners, and businesses.
Every vote counts. Did you know that during primary elections, your vote packs a bigger punch?
This March, fewer than 20% of registered voters are expected to turn out. That’s three times less than the number of voters who cast their ballots in November. More importantly, because only a few districts are truly swing districts, the victor in the spring primaries in a Republican or Democratic-controlled district is likely to win the race. That’s why it’s important for the business community to speak up and get out the vote for pro-business, pro-tort reform candidates.
The time to act is now. Make a plan to engage your network and turn out the vote this March!
As new data continues to come out about
The connection between trial lawyer abuse and rising costs is breaking through. Across Texas and beyond, more outlets are calling out how lawsuit profiteering is eroding affordability and threatening the legal reforms that once made Texas an economic leader.
Austin Journal: Texas Falling Behind on Lawsuit Reform
The Austin Journal highlighted warnings from TLR Chairman and Founder Dick Weekley that Texas is losing ground as peer states like Florida and Georgia move forward with meaningful lawsuit reforms. The article notes that Texas, once the national model for curbing lawsuit abuse, now faces rising insurance premiums after the Legislature failed to act on key reforms last session. Between 2021 and 2024, homeowners’ insurance premiums in Austin, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio rose by more than 23%, outpacing many other states and placing growing pressure on family budgets.
Houston Daily: Trial Lawyer Tax Drains U.S. Economy
In coverage of another op-ed by Mr. Weekley, Houston Daily reported that lawsuit abuse now drains more than $500 billion annually from the U.S. economy. In Texas alone, tort costs reached nearly $38 billion in 2022, equating to about $4,600 per household through higher insurance premiums and consumer prices. The article underscores that victims receive less than 20% of lawsuit payouts, while trial lawyers and outside investors capture the bulk, a system that raises costs for families and undermines economic stability.
Together, these stories, along with CEO Ryan Patrick’s Dallas Morning News op-ed and Chairman Dick Weekley’s commentary in the Houston Chronicle, reflect a growing recognition that lawsuit abuse is a direct driver of higher prices, higher premiums, and reduced economic opportunity.
Texas has led before. Whether it does so again will depend on whether lawmakers are willing to defend the reforms that built the Texas Miracle, rather than allowing trial lawyers and their allies to quietly dismantle them.
While some states are confronting the cost drivers behind rising insurance premiums, trial lawyers are fighting to preserve a system that rewards abuse and protects their profits.
In Florida, insurance regulators and state leaders have been clear: tort reform works. Following meaningful legal reforms, major insurers announced premium reductions averaging 7–20%, lawsuits declined sharply, and competition returned to the market. Regulators credited these changes with restoring stability after years of runaway verdicts and abusive litigation practices.
At the same time, a growing spotlight is turning toward the litigation finance industry, a $16 billion market that fuels high-dollar lawsuits. This industry operates in the shadows and siphons judgments from plaintiffs to feed investors’ pockets. As Bloomberg Law reports, litigation funders continue to enjoy tax advantages and minimal disclosure requirements, even as their investments prolong lawsuits, inflate verdicts, and add billions in hidden costs passed on to consumers through higher prices and insurance premiums.
The pattern is unmistakable. Where trial lawyer abuse is curbed, families benefit. Where trial lawyers maintain influence, costs keep rising. Texas once drew that line clearly. Whether it does so again will determine affordability, competitiveness, and opportunity for years to come.
