Recent News

Tort reform would spark lagging local economy

Monday, June 23 2008
By Lawrence J. McQuillan and Gregg M. Edwards

The Dow Jones industrial average has fallen more than 1,500 points since last year. Bear Stearns has gone belly up. Every week talking heads point to a different blue-chip company supposedly teetering on the brink of financial ruin.

It seems as if things couldn't get worse for Wall Street and the broader economy. But if lawyers continue to abuse the tort system, things could deteriorate even further -- particularly in New York and New Jersey.

Tort law covers instances when one person infringes on the legally recognized rights of another, harming the other person. A tort award is supposed to fully compensate the victim for his injuries and damages.

But when people file frivolous tort suits, justice is not served. And citizens pay the price through higher insurance premiums, higher product prices and a stagnant economy. Monetary tort losses amount to $865 billion each year -- or 6.5 percent of the nation's gross domestic product. New York had $16 billion in losses in 2006, according to the new U.S. Tort Liability Index: 2008 Report. New Jersey suf fered $8 billion in tort losses that year. [MORE]

To the Trenches - The Tort War is Raging on

Sunday, June 22 2008
By Jonathan D. Glater

IN a Washington ballroom bedecked with flags honoring explorers who overcame oceans and mountains to pursue international trade, Thomas J. Donohue congratulated the assembled modern merchants - a group of executives, lobbyists and lawyers - for challenging a more mundane adversary.

"It took guts, bravery and vision to get behind what must have seemed like an insurmountable task - taking on the powerful trial bar," said Mr. Donohue, the chief executive of the United States Chamber of Commerce. "We have succeeded beyond our expectations."

There were plenty of reasons for self-congratulation at the dinner, held earlier this month to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the chamber's Institute for Legal Reform. Some of the best-known plaintiff-side lawyers in the country - Richard F. Scruggs, Melvyn I. Weiss and William S. Lerach - have all pleaded guilty to charges that they tried to manipulate the justice system. The very phrase "trial lawyer" has become associated with unadulterated greed; the Association of Trial Lawyers of America now calls itself the American Association for Justice.

But it is still too early to declare an end to the so-called tort wars, a decades-old conflict over the rules governing civil lawsuits. Corporate interests have won several potent victories, but trial lawyers continue to try to undo legislation restricting litigation and are pursuing new strategies of their own. [MORE]

State's Bad Tort System Hurts Business

Sunday, May 4, 2008
The Star-Ledger
By Marcus Rayner

There is a storm brewing in New Jersey's civil justice system. Employers across the state have been noticing the signs for some time, but it is now becoming unmistakable to many across the nation that New Jersey's tort system is crippling our state's economic competitiveness. New Jersey is consistently slipping in national rankings that compare state civil justice systems, and our employers are increasingly voicing concern because they know that a bad tort climate leads to abusive litigation that is bad for business and bad for consumers. Read the entire article.

Businesses Fear N.J. Courts

Thursday, April 24, 2008
Bergen Record

A national business group has given its verdict on New Jersey's legal climate, and it's not good. 

A report released Wednesday by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a Washington, D.C.-based business lobby group, placed New Jersey 35th in a national survey of lawyers that judged state court systems on whether they are reasonable and balanced.

New Jersey placed 26th in a similar survey last year. It had never previously been ranked lower than 30th in the six years that the chamber has conducted the survey.”  To view the complete story, click here.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform releases the 2008 "Lawsuit Climate Report"

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce released its 2008 report on April 14th, which ranked NJ the 35th worst litigation climate in the nation, down from 26th in 2007.  Of New Jersey, the report says “New Jersey's legal climate has dropped nine spots to number 35 in Lawsuit Climate 2008: Ranking the States. ‘New Jersey's legal system is headed in the wrong direction,’ said Tom Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, ‘largely as a result of the plaintiff-friendly bias in a handful of trial courts, particularly in lawsuits aimed at pharmaceutical manufacturers.’

To view the report, click here.

The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) Ranks New Jersey #49 of the 50 States for its Civil Justice Climate

• U.S. Tort Liability Index: 2008 Report - A state by state ranking of tort costs and tort laws

“At the bottom of the barrel are Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Montana, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, and, dead last, Florida.”

Forbes Magazine: Atlantic County, New Jersey "One of the Worst Places to get Sued in America"

“The Worst Places to get Sued in America”, www.Forbes.com

April 7, 2008
By William Pentland

“Products Liability Lawsuits Against Pharmaceutical Industry”     

“In addition to a steady supply of exotic lawsuits, Atlantic County has made pharmaceutical litigation into a cottage industry. In the past two years, Merck has spent over $1 billion defending lawsuits related to Vioxx, the blockbuster painkiller pulled off the market over safety concerns in 2004. A few weeks ago, the company announced it would settle more than 15,000 Vioxx-related suits pending in Atlantic County, a hot-spot for mass tort litigation against the pharmaceutical industry.” [Full Text]

NJLRA News Alert: The American Tort Reform Association Names Atlantic County, New Jersey a "Judicial Hellhole" for 2007

With today's release of its annual Judicial Hellholes® report, the American Tort Reform Foundation named Atlantic County, New Jersey as a “Hellhole” for the first time. Along with Clark County, Nevada, Atlantic County joins perennial Hellholes South Florida, Rio Grande Valley and Gulf Coast, Texas, Cook County, Illinois and West Virginia among the nation’s most unfair civil court jurisdictions.

The full report is available here.

According to ATRA, "Judicial Hellholes" are places where judges systematically apply laws and court procedures in an inequitable manner, generally against defendants in civil lawsuits. In this sixth annual report, ATRF shines the spotlight on six areas of the country that have developed a reputation for uneven justice.

Coming in at number six is our own Atlantic County, New Jersey:

6. ATLANTIC COUNTY, NEW JERSEY
Personal injury lawyers seem to have gained a monopoly in Atlantic County, a new addition to the Judicial Hellholes report. New Jersey is known for particularly plaintiff-friendly laws, admitting junk science in court and hosting lawsuits from all over the country against their state's own economic driver, the pharmaceutical industry. All these elements were on display in the Vioxx litigation in Atlantic County. There is also evidence that litigation fairness is deteriorating throughout the Garden State, leading to the formation of the New Jersey Lawsuit Reform Alliance in October 2007.

High profile issues such as class action abuse, pharmaceutical liability, asbestos lawsuits and extraordinary awards often dominate headlines. But being cited as a Judicial Hellhole is nothing to celebrate. Litigation abuse ultimately hurts the people living in these jurisdictions the most – by limiting economic growth and access to health care, among other things.