U.S. Tort Liability Index: 2008 Update Report

Pacific Research Institute

California-based Pacific Research Institute (PRI) released the newly updated U.S. Tort Liability Index: 2008 Report. The new study, which follows on PRI’s groundbreaking 2006 Index, provides new analysis on all 50 states based on multiple variables of empirical data measuring both inputs (what states have done to reform their legal systems) and outputs (the cost/risk factors currently facing states based on their legal systems).

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Audio Interview with Dr. Lawrence McQuillan

Institute for Legal Reform: 2008 State Liability Ranking

U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform

The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform has released the results of its annual opinion survey conducted by Harris Interactive among 957 corporate general counsel and senior litigators in companies with sales of $100 million or more.

Judicial Hellholes 2007

American Tort Reform Foundation

At a press conference in Washington, DC, the American Tort Reform Foundation has named for the first time Clark County, Nevada and Atlantic County, New Jersey as "Judicial Hellholes". The list also includes perennial Hellholes:  South Florida; Rio Grande Valley and Gulf Coast, Texas; Cook County, Illinois; and, the entire state of West Virginia as the nation’s most unfair civil court jurisdictions.

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Audio Interview with ATRF President Tiger Joyce

Medical Crisis: A Pocketbook Matter for Employers

American Justice Partnership Foundation
 

"In its new report, Medical Crisis: A Pocketbook Matter for Employers, the American Justice Partnership reveals the shocking statistics behind the health care crisis in our nation," said John Engler (below), President of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and former Governor of Michigan.

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The Annual Guide to State Legal Climates

Prepared for Directorship Magazine

by Steve Hantler, Chairman, American Justice Partnership

and AJP's State Partners

Directorship magazine and www.directorship.com, both of which are widely read by a majority of Fortune 500 boards, invited AJP to prepare a 12-page Guide profiling the political, legislative and judicial dynamics that create the current and future liability risks in each state. 

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Audio interview with Jeff Cunningham, Publisher of Directorship

Jackpot Justice: The True Cost of America's Tort System

March 27, 2007 — America’s out-of-control legal system imposes a staggering economic cost of over $865 billion every year according to a new scholarly study released today by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in San Francisco, California.  This figure is 27 times more than the federal government spends on homeland security, 30 times what the National Institutes for Health dedicate to finding cures for deadly diseases, and 13 times the amount the Department of Education spends to help educate America’s children. 

 Video Interview - Quicktime    Download Report PDF   Video Interview - Win Media

U.S. Tort System Costs:  2006 Update

Towers Perrin Tillinghast has released its annual review of the U.S. legal system and reports that U.S. tort system cost $261 billion in 2005.

This is a first-class compendium of both high level and detailed information and is well-worth reading and sharing.  

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Judicial Hellholes 2006

The American Tort Reform Association released its new and updated fifth edition of the "Judicial Hellholes" report. This report documents litigation abuses in jurisdictions identified by the American Tort Reform Foundation (ATRF) as “Judicial Hellholes®.” The purpose of this report is (1) to identify areas of the country where the scales of justice are out of balance; and (2) to provide solutions for restoring balance, accuracy and predictability to the American civil justice system. Hellholes include West Virginia; South Florida; Rio Grande Valley and Gulf Coast, Texas; Cook County, Illinois; Madison County, Illinois and St. Clair County, Illinois.

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The "Activist" Journey of the Florida Supreme Court

The American Justice Partnership has completed a 29-page analysis of key decisions by the Florida Supreme Court.  This report focuses on five indicators, or signposts, indicative of an activist court.  If any of these indicators properly describe a court or its decisions, the court is, by definition, an activist one.

The presence of any of the five indicators is evidence that a Court is departing from the role envisioned for the judiciary by the founding fathers.  Generally it is venturing more and more into the legislative arena, and is indeed making new law rather than interpreting the law as currently written.  Unfortunately, the presence of these characteristics also allows the judiciary to be manipulated by litigants (or judges themselves) who prefer a certain policy or outcome that cannot be achieved through the legislative process.

A review of recent Florida Supreme Court decisions illustrates the presence of not just one or two of these indicators, but all of them ... and repeatedly.  By definition, the current Florida Supreme Court is an activist court, the majority of its justices, activist judges.

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U.S. Tort Liability Index: 2006 Report

The Pacific Research Institute has completed a comprehensive analysis of the health of state civil justice systems.  It analyzed 39 types of empirical data for each state in order to create an indexing scoring system that enabled PRI to rank the states from the best to the worst.  The study is unique because it takes into account objective factors such as: how courts are structured, total monetary losses, monetary caps on non-economic and punitive damages, how lawsuit venue is decided, recently enacted reforms, and many others.  The study also categorizes the 50 states in terms of their prospective position in the race for future jobs and business investment.

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View Webcast of Press Conference,

National Press Club, Washington, DC

(windows media player)

Listen to Interview With Dr. McQuillan

Play Windows Media   Play iTunes/Other

Judicial Hellholes 2005

The American Tort Reform Association released its new and updated fourth edition of the "Judicial Hellholes" report. The report identifies six Judicial Hellholes and one "Dishonorable Mention." They are: Rio Grande Valley and Gulf Coast, Texas; Cook County, Illinois; West Virginia; Madison County, Illinois; St. Clair County, Illinois; and South Florida. This year's only Dishonorable Mention goes to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.  Through extensive research and follow-up, ATRA members have identified these jurisdictions across the country as locations where the trial bar has succeeded in creating a favorable atmosphere for positive outcomes for their clients.  Nine jurisdictions are on the "Watch List".

 Full Story   Watch Announcement Video    Download Report PDF

Trial Lawyers, Inc.: Healthcare

The Manhattan Institute's Center for Legal Policy has published Trial Lawyers Inc.: Healthcare.  This report looks closely at the effect of the lawsuit industry on America's Healthcare system.  Listen to an exclusive AJP audio interview with CLP Director Jim Copland about  the Trial Lawyers Inc.: Healthcare report.

Download Report PDF    View Trial Lawyers Inc. Website

Trial Lawyers, Inc.: California

California’s lawsuit industry is the second most expensive legal system in the world according to a report issued today by Manhattan Institute’s Center for Legal Policy.  The report, Trial Lawyers Inc.: California, examines the impact the state’s lawsuit industry has had on businesses, jobs, and affordable home prices.  Visit Trial Lawyers, Inc. for the complete report, or click on the image at right..

 Download Report PDF    View Trial Lawyers Inc. Website

U.S. Tort System Costs:  2005 Update

Towers Perrin Tillinghast has released its annual review of the U.S. legal system and reports that U.S. tort system cost $260 billion in 2004, or $886 per person, up by $41 a person from 2003.  According to Towers Perrin, "Since 1950, tort cost growth has exceeded gross domestic product (GDP) growth by an average of two to three percentage points. ... U.S. tort cost growth since 1950 far exceeds U.S. population growth. Even after adjusting for inflation, tort costs per capita have risen by a factor of more than nine between 1950 and 2004."  This is a first-class compendium of both high level and detailed information and is well-worth reading and sharing.  

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Manhattan Institute Releases New Study on Medical Malpractice Awards

A new study by two researchers from George Mason University, Alexander Tabarrok and Amanda Agan, examines the relationship between medical malpractice awards, insurance and negligence. 

The study comes to four conclusions:  1) medical malpractice premiums are closely related to medical malpractice tort awards; 2) med-mal premiums are not explained by insurance industry price gouging; 3) med-mal tort awards are related to some factors not rationally related to injuries; and, 4) malpractice tort awards and thus insurance premiums can vary dramatically for reasons having little or nothing to do with negligence. 

The Center for Legal Policy (CLP) at Manhattan Institute has a very good website resource with charts and details about the study and related data. 

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WLF Conversations With ... Jeb Bush,

John Engler and Steve Hantler

The need to continue and intensify efforts to improve states’ civil justice systems, and how best to pursue reform strategies, is the focus of this edition of Washington Legal Foundation’s (WLF) CONVERSATIONS WITH publication series.  Dick Thornburgh moderates the discussion which features Florida Governor Jeb Bush; President and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, John Engler; and Steve Hantler, Chairman, AJP 

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Steve Hantler and Dick Scruggs Debate Legal Reform

In this 48-minute video program, Andrew Napolitano, Senior Judicial Analyst of the FOX News Channel, moderates a lively debate between Dick Scruggs and Steve Hantler about the pros and cons of legal reform and the activities of the trial bar.  Sponsored by the Manhattan Institute and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, this debate pits the mastermind of the precedent-setting tobacco litigation against the business community’s most respected legal reform advocate.  Watch Video