Issues

New Jersey is at a critical crossroads. Our business environment is steadily worsening and that threatens our jobs and economy. Our laws and courts are contributing to the problem by making employers who do locate here a target for lawsuits and discouraging others from locating in New Jersey. We need to address this problem now to ensure that New Jersey remains a state in which companies want to do business and provide jobs. A balanced civil justice system is critical for ensuring fair and open courts, maintaining and attracting jobs, and fostering economic growth in New Jersey.

• New Jersey is losing jobs and business. Between the years 2000 and 2005, the state lost 115,000 high-paying jobs. (Source: New Jersey's New Economy Growth Challenges, Rutgers Regional Report, July 2006).
• Pharmaceutical and telecommunications industries are particularly hard hit with the state losing 5.5% of its pharmaceutical jobs between 1990 and 2005. In comparison, pharmaceutical jobs grew by 39.2% nationally. (Source: New Jersey's New Economy Growth Challenges, Rutgers Regional Report, July 2006).
• New Jersey courts are attracting an increasing number of out-of-state lawsuits because New Jersey laws and the actions of some New Jersey courts encourage litigation that might not even make it to trial in other states.
• New Jersey earned a dishonorable mention in The American Tort Reform Association's (ATRA) 2006 Judicial Hellholes report and was singled out as one of the top destinations for litigation tourism. Dishonorable mentions recognize particularly abusive practices or unsound court decisions. View report.
• The American tort liability system is the most expensive in the world. The U.S. tort system cost $261 billion in 2005, which translates into $882 per U.S. citizen. (Source: U.S. Tort Costs: 2005 Update, Tillinghast-Towers Perrin, March 2006).
• Estimated annual cost of lawsuit abuse for the state of New Jersey equals $7,724,081,550.