"We have to
create an environment that is friendly
for
businesses to grow and prosper."
...
Oklahoma Senator Glenn Coffee
Senator Coffee, Republican
Majority Leader of the Oklahoma Senate and a nine-year leader of legal reform legislation, talks with AJP's Kristyn
Shayon about this year's comprehensive legal reform bill and the stunning
last-minute flip-flop by Governor Brad Henry.
Thanks in part to Senator Glenn Coffee's
leadership, for the first time in 25 years, a
comprehensive legal reform bill passed both the House and Senate of
Oklahoma and was presented to the Governor for signature. Gov.
Henry, who previously endorsed legal reform and even issued a press
release identifying some 28 provisions he felt necessary to include, did
an about-face under pressure from the plaintiff's lawyers and vetoed the
bill.
Excerpt From:
The Directorship
Annual Guide to State Legal Climates:
Oklahoma
(Rank: 43)
"Insurance
loss ratios in Oklahoma are in the bottom 30 percent of all states.
Sequoia County is fast becoming a class action magnet. While the
Oklahoma Legislature passed comprehensive liability-reform legislation
this session, it was vetoed by Governor Brad Henry despite his pledge
four years ago for “Texas Plus” tort reform. Governor Henry turned his
back on Oklahoma voters and also on growth and jobs creation. Attorney
General Drew Edmondson is a highly activist attorney general."
-- Steve Hantler, et.
al., Directorship, June-July 2007, page 62.
