Texans for Lawsuit Reform

Through political action, legal, academic and market research, and grassroots initiatives, TLR fights for common-sense reforms that keep Texas open for business.

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Our Mission

In the 1970s and 1980s, Texas’ legal system was a playground for personal injury trial lawyers. Texas courts were widely considered the most unfair in the nation, known as the “Wild West of Lawsuits” for their jackpot justice. The Wall Street Journal called Texas the “Lawsuit Capital of the World” and 60 Minutes conducted an investigation asking, “Is Justice for Sale?” in Texas. The consequences were severe.

Lloyds of London imposed an insurance surcharge of 20 to 25 percent on any company doing business in Texas because of the high probability and excessive costs of lawsuits. Job creators cited the biased lawsuit environment as a reason not to locate or expand in Texas, and companies would not consider acquiring Texas businesses for fear of polluting their balance sheets with tort liabilities.

The litigation environment was causing doctors to retire early, close their high-risk specialties—including neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery and obstetrics—stop performing complex procedures or flee the state altogether.

Our unfair and dishonest legal system was ridiculed by lawyers and feared by job creators, healthcare providers and the people of Texas, who had lost faith in the legal system.

Then in 1994, several Texas business leaders decided to do something about it, and founded TLR. As volunteers, we organized the business community across the state to fight back against job-killing, abusive lawsuits. In the more than two decades since, TLR has helped pass the most comprehensive lawsuit reforms in the country, making Texas a model for common-sense reform. In fact, Texas has passed meaningful reforms in almost every legislative session since TLR was founded.

With principled reforms as part of our economic foundation, Texas’ economy has thrived, creating opportunities for families and job creators. Former Dallas Federal Reserve Chairman and CEO Richard Fisher put it this way, “the most important thing that generated 38 percent of our jobs [in Texas] is tort reform.” Industries that had been threatened by abusive lawsuits—such as healthcare, manufacturers, real estate developers and maritime shipping—continue to grow. Today, Texas is a national leader in medical research, technology, mining, exports and job growth. Doctors have flocked back to the state in droves, with more than 50,000 new doctors licensed since 2003, the year medical liability reform was enacted.

Enacting these reforms has been a monumental effort—a marathon, not a sprint. Every year, whether it’s a session year or an election cycle, we play both offense and defense.

During the legislative session, we play offense to shut down new abuses of the legal system. We also play defense against new causes of action and new theories of liability, as well as attempts to roll back our previous reforms. We have had 100% success in shutting down the personal injury trial lawyers’ job-killing agenda in the Legislature. And our work doesn’t stop once the legislative session is over.

Polling shows that Texans support common-sense lawsuit reform and believe lawsuit abuse is bad for the economy. We realize it is impossible to enact good legislation unless good men and women are elected to public office. And it is largely useless to enact good laws if we don’t have good judges and an efficient legal system to apply those laws. In order to ensure Texas elects leadership that shares our philosophy about a fair civil justice system, we created TLRPAC, the political arm of TLR, which has since grown to be the largest and most influential PAC in Texas.

Through TLRPAC, we play offense during the primaries and general election to pick up key seats in competitive races, as well as defense to protect strong tort reform legislators and candidates from serious personal injury trial lawyer attacks.

TLR’s work is never done. We need to stay ever vigilant because the personal injury trial lawyers never stop. Our efforts have kept Texas’ economy growing by allowing us to respond quickly each time a new abuse occurs, helping Texas remain a leader in civil justice reform. We hope you’ll join us in working to keep Texas courts fair, efficient and accessible.

Texas wouldn’t be the state it is today without lawsuit reform. And the lawsuit reform movement wouldn’t be what it is today without TLR.

Recent Advocate

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Texans for Lawsuit Reform

24 hours ago

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

In case you missed it: Texas judges are stuck between a rock and a hard place. The nature of our state’s partisan election system requires judges to raise money to run political campaigns to serve. Because judicial campaigns are lower profile than other races on the ballot, few voters know about the judges or are willing to make contributions to their campaigns. Instead, the natural constituency for judicial fundraising is attorneys and law firms. But the idea of judges raising money from lawyers who have appeared or might appear in their courtrooms leaves a bad taste in many Texans’ mouths. Read and share: bit.ly/355ziMH ... See MoreSee Less

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A Rock and A Hard Place

tortreform.com

The nature of our state’s partisan election system requires judges to raise money to run political campaigns to be elected or re-elected to a seat on the bench. Because judicial campaigns...
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Texans for Lawsuit Reform

2 days ago

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

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. Read and share: bit.ly/357SEAR ... See MoreSee Less

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Misleading TV Ads Make Trial Lawyers Rich

tortreform.com

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 cl...
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Fuck you guys. It's Impossible to sue in Texas no matter what happens to you. Google a lawsuit in Tarrant County District Court 141 filed by myself where I'm fighting 20 attorneys.

They are the real problem. Mainly because they buddies in every legislature write the laws to favor them and not us! Fire them all!

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

3 days ago

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

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. Read and share: bit.ly/38pcGJ0 ... See MoreSee Less

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More than 500 cities and counties reject opioid class action, will pursue lawsuits on their own

tortreform.com

More than 500 cities and counties opted out of the unprecedented “negotiation class” proposed by plaintiff lawyers to settle sprawling opioid litigation, leaving 98&pe...
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lawsuitreform avatarTLR@lawsuitreform·
19h

Sign up for the TLR Weekly News Roundup to receive a daily digest of headlines & news stories about lawsuit reform from Texas & around the country!

Sign up for the TLR Weekly News Roundup!

Please use the form below to receive a daily digest of TLR Clips - headlines and news stories about lawsuit reform from Texas and around the country.

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lawsuitreform avatarTLR@lawsuitreform·
22h

Join us in pursuing our mission of creating a fair, balanced and predictable legal system!

Get Involved - Texans for Lawsuit Reform

Texans for Lawsuit Reform has thousands of supporters from across Texas who are committed to a fair and balanced civil justice system.

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lawsuitreform avatarTLR@lawsuitreform·
24h

#ICYMI: It’s time Texas took a hard look at our antiquated system of electing all of our state’s judges. Texas is one of only six states to do so. Read & RT: #lawsuitreform #tortreform

A Rock and A Hard Place

The nature of our state’s partisan election system requires judges to raise money to run political campaigns to be elected or re-elected to a se...

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Texans for Lawsuit Reform
1701 Brun Street
Houston, Texas 77019

Ph. 713-963-9363
  • About TLR
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Timeline of Reforms
  • Videos
  • Issues
  • Resource Center
  • For the Record
  • Special Reports
  • In the News
  • Press Releases
  • Invite a TLR Speaker
  • Get Involved
  • Invite a TLR Speaker
  • Donate
  • Stay Informed
  • Contact TLR

Copyright © 2019 · Texans for Lawsuit Reform. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2019 · Texans for Lawsuit Reform.
All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy