Archives: Lawsuit Reform / Articles
Archives: Lawsuit Reform / Articles
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Florida Achieves Major Lawsuit Reform
Last month, Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a comprehensive lawsuit reform package for the state of Florida. The bill, HB 837, went into effect on March 24th, 2023,…
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Can States Determine Who Represents Them in Federal Courts?
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court heard a case about whether states legislatures can represent the interests of a state in federal court when a party challenges the constitutionality…
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Innocent Victims of California Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws
This year many states—Alabama, Arizona, North Dakota and Utah among others—have adopted legislation to limit civil asset forfeiture and government’s ability to seize private property. The…
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Speaking up on Restorative Justice
Americans from all walks of life were shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific images of George Floyd’s unjustified killing at the hands of those charged to serve and protect. Organizations of all types and people everywhere are asking what they can do, and many of the potential solutions being discussed can be advanced most effectively by the states.
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Civil Justice Task Force: Policy Prescriptions to Address Economic and Health Care Challenges in the Face of COVID-19
The Civil Justice Task Force presents potential public policy prescriptions on issues pertaining to civil justice during this COVID-19 pandemic. Resolving Potential Court Backlogs Several courts throughout the country have…
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Policy Solutions to Address COVID-19’s Impact on Issues Pertaining to Civil Justice and Regulatory Reform
As the number of cases of COVID-19 continues to rise, the national government and state governments have an important role to play in their response to the crisis. These policy…
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Oklahoma Named Judicial Hellhole Mid-Year
In an atypical summer addition to the annual Judicial Hellholes list, Oklahoma takes a place among perennial problematic lawsuit havens like California, Florida, Missouri and New York. Motivating the…
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An Inconvenient Tort: CA Court Affirms that Climate Policy Should Be Handled by Congress, Agencies
On June 25, Federal District Court Judge William Alsup threw out a case brought by the cities of Oakland and San Francisco which sought to hold five major oil…
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Arsenic and Old Law: Regulation, Litigation and California’s Proposition 65 Problem
Walking into a coffee shop in California isn’t quite like walking into a coffee shop in other parts of the United States. The general atmosphere may be much the same:…
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Supreme Court Preserves Lawsuit Alternatives
On May 21, 2018, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of businesses that use alternative dispute resolution (ADR) when resolving wage and labor disputes with employees. The case,…
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The Best and Worst States for Lawsuits
For the past fifteen years, the Institute for Legal Reform has routinely conducted a survey involving corporate litigators and company senior executives. This survey has become a reliable benchmark for…
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Lawsuit Reform Gaining Ground in Congress
Lawsuit reform is quickly moving in Congress. A handful of proposals, some of which are based on ALEC model policy, have been included in Speaker Ryan’s A Better Way Plan…
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Missouri Working to Improve its Status as a Judicial Hellhole
Missouri’s lawsuit system performs in the bottom third of all state legal systems, 42nd out of the 50 states, according to the US Chamber’s Lawsuit Climate Survey. It is…
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Drive-By Lawsuits and the Abuse of the Americans with Disabilities Act
A recent 60 Minutes episode examined the growing litany of lawsuits that use the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to demand payment from small businesses. In some cases, these…
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Missouri’s St. Louis is the Nation’s Worst Judicial Hellhole™
A newly released report by the American Tort Reform Association lambastes St. Louis as the worst Judicial Hellhole™ in the country.
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Protecting Internet Users from Speech-Suppressing Lawsuits
Anti-SLAPP statutes give those sued for expressing their opinions a legal mechanism to get cases dismissed early before legal costs effectively stifle their speech.
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Missouri Governor Jay Nixon Vetoes Lawsuit Reform Proposals
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon last week vetoed two reforms that would have helped the state get a handle on its frivolous lawsuit problem.
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Is Memory Manipulation a Threat to Your State’s Legal System?
Dr. Julia Shaw may be able to convince you that you committed a crime you never committed, at least she did with 70 percent of participants in her study published last year.
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Sunshine Needed to Oust Phantom Lawsuit Damages
Lawsuit awards are often arrived at with misleading evidence. A little sunshine can help the jury award fair recovery free of phantom damages. Following a doctor’s visit, most people receive…
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Missouri Legislature Working to Replace Archaic Lawsuit Expert Rules
Today, a civil or criminal case rarely goes by in which each party does not try to offer the jury multiple “experts” upon whose opinion to base its verdict. Unreliable…