FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION—February 11, 2014
Contact: Lucy Nashed
lucy@tortreform.com
512-478-0200

New Poll Finds GOP Voters Don’t Trust Personal Injury Trial Lawyers

(Austin, TX) Polling over the last two decades has consistently shown that a majority of Texans in both political parties support the landmark lawsuit reforms that have brought balance to Texas courts and improved public trust in our civil justice system.  A new statewide poll of Republican primary voters conducted by Baselice and Associates, Inc. for TLR last week found that, despite persistent attempts by liberal personal injury trial lawyers to infiltrate Republican and conservative groups, support for tort reform remains high among likely Republican voters.

“We have been asking Texans their opinion on tort reform for over twenty years and we consistently find overwhelming support for lawsuit reforms.  In this most recent poll, we found that public perceptions of personal injury trial lawyers remain extremely negative,” said pollster Mike Baselice.

The poll found that:

• 84% of respondents say they would be less likely to vote for a judge who “was accepting contributions from personal injury trial lawyers.”

• 80% of respondents say they would be less likely to vote for a candidate for state legislature who “was accepting contributions from personal injury trial lawyers.”

• 79% of respondents believe that “personal injury trial lawyers are filing too many lawsuits.”
• 79% of respondents believe that “personal injury trial lawyers exploit persons injured by accident and illness for their own gain.”

• 67% of respondents believe that “personal injury trial lawyers sue businesses for a living, which hurts our economy and costs us jobs.”

• Only 1.0% (0ne percent) of respondents believe that filing lawsuits “is the best way to reduce irresponsible behavior by corporations.”

The poll surveyed 601 likely Republican Primary voters between January 30 and February 3, 2014.  The margin of error is + 4.0%.

Texans for Lawsuit Reform, the state’s largest civil justice reform organization. TLR is a bipartisan, volunteer-led coalition with more than 18,000 supporters residing in 869 Texas communities and representing 1,266 different businesses, professions and trades. For more information about TLR visit www.tortreform.com.