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The Oklahoma
Legislature convened this month with Republican leaders vowing
to make lawsuit reform a top priority. Ending lawsuit abuse
isn't just a cause for Republicans. For lawsuit reform to
succeed in the 2006 legislative session, both political parties
must join in protecting Oklahoma businesses and jobs from costly
and often frivolous litigation.
The Republican
leadership has rolled this rock up the hill before. For three
years running, serious lawsuit reform has been on the verge of
passing, only to be blocked by Senate Democrats. The last time
around, a comprehensive lawsuit reform bill easily passed the
House but died in the Senate.
That bill, the
Justice and Common Sense Act, will be reintroduced in this new
session. And before deciding whether to fight it again,
Democratic legislators should stop and reconsider whether their
political alliance with the trial lawyers lobby is really in the
best interests of Oklahoma.
The failure to pass
lawsuit reform is already having negative consequences on the
states economic climate.
In its annual report
on the nations worst judicial hellholes, the American Tort
Reform Association recently placed Oklahoma on the watch list --
a clear warning signal to corporations considering where to
locate or expand. After all, no company wants to open for
business in a state where frivolous litigation is out of control
and state lawmakers are unwilling to act.
More troubling,
political leaders in other states have moved forward on lawsuit
reform, putting Oklahoma at a competitive disadvantage when it
comes to attracting economic investment and the jobs that come
with it.
The Texas
Legislature, for example, in 2003 passed significant lawsuit
reforms. The result: frivolous lawsuits declined and economic
development expanded. Since then, four major businesses have
relocated to the state, and many other companies have decided to
expand. According to Site Selection magazine, Texas in 2004
secured the most job-creation announcements in the country.
The Justice and
Common Sense Act can help Oklahoma regain some lost ground on
its economic competitors. It will restore common sense to our
courts by reining in some of the worst abuses by the trial
lawyer industry.
For example, the bill
would curtail the practice of dragging deep-pocketed corporate
defendants into litigation merely because thats where the money
is. It also would reform the class-action system by ensuring
that trial lawyers cant walk away with millions in legal fees
while their clients get little or nothing. In addition, the bill
would create common-sense guidelines for the awarding of
non-economic damages in medical liability cases a key measure
designed to reduce runaway insurance premiums and lower health
costs for Oklahomans.
Thousands of new jobs
depend on a clear message from the Legislature that new
businesses are welcome in Oklahoma and that opportunistic trial
lawyers are not.
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