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Florida has one of the nation’s worst legal climates, with the American Tort Reform Association naming it a top Judicial Hellhole this year. Unsurprisingly, the Florida Chamber of Commerce has named legal reform its top legislative priority in 2014, calling it crucial to job creation in the state. Clearly, Florida can’t afford for its legal climate to get any worse. 

It’s a new year and tort reformers have been turning up all over the internet. We took the liberty of rounding up some of the standouts. You may recognize a few friends of Project Lawsuit Abuse in there. Here are some of the newsmakers from around the country.

Embattled Gasket Maker Sues Asbestos Lawyers For Fraud
Gasket manufacturer Garlock Technologies has sued four prominent asbestos law firms for fraud as it awaits a bankruptcy judge’s decision on how much money the company must set aside to settle thousands of claims against it. – Forbes

At Project Lawsuit Abuse, we frequently talk about the benefits that tort reform has brought to Texas, but today we have another example of proof.

To mark almost ten years after Texas passed its expansive tort reform measures, the Heritage Foundation’s Texas Public Policy Foundation reviewed the impacts that these reforms have had on both jobs and health care in the state.  Both cases mark record success. 

If you follow Project Lawsuit Abuse, you know how bad California’s legal climate is. It’s the nation’s number one Judicial Hellhole! But get this – trial lawyers are trying to make things even worse for Californians!

The trial lawyer lobby is launching a full out campaign to repeal California’s caps on medical malpractice damages. They’re spending their considerable millions on billboards, advertisements and lobbying on this effort.

Some good news from Florida this week – Governor Rick Scott recently signed a pair of badly needed bills that will implement common sense medical malpractice reforms. Specifically, the bills will tighten standards on expert witnesses to help ensure fairness in medical malpractice cases.

As we know from the successes of Texas, reform works. Cutting down on meritless medical malpractice claims will provide consumers with more affordable healthcare and bring more doctors into Florida. It’s a win-win!  

Recently, some positive developments have taken place in the world of medical malpractice reform. On Tuesday, the Iowa House approved a bill that would require medical malpractice lawsuits to be reviewed by special panels before proceeding to trial. If passed, the bill would increase courtroom efficiency and help cut down on healthcare costs.

Tort reformers have been turning up all over the internet recently. We took the liberty of rounding up some of the standouts. You may recognize a few friends of Project Lawsuit Abuse in there. Here are some of the newsmakers from around the country.

How Tort Reform Could Increase Access to Justice for Patients
Limiting damages in medical malpractice cases — what most people think of as “tort reform” — could become a hot topic again if Georgia legislators finally try to reimpose the caps thrown out by the state Supreme Court in 2010. -Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Everything really is bigger in Texas. The Lone Star State has experienced enormous job growth in the last few years. It is no coincidence that this job surge followed the state’s passage of significant legal reforms such as “loser pays,” where plaintiffs must cover their opponents’ legal fees if their claims are found groundless.

These changes have brought Texas litigation costs to a record low and made it a model of success for other states.

Editor’s Note: Project Lawsuit Abuse regularly highlights lawsuit abuse news from across the country. As part of the “Create Jobs, Not Lawsuits Tour” we’re dropping in on states across the country so see the effects of lawsuit abuse on-the-ground and hear from those on the frontlines of the fight for legal reform. Today, Tom Stebbins, executive director of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York, contributed a guest post on what tort reform would mean for jobs and healthcare in New York.  

Detractors of legal reform can be counted on to release “studies” and “reports” that support why they think legal reform is bad, but what they don’t ever talk about is all of the positive effects legal reform has had on state economies.

Case in point: Texas.

This week, Dr. Thomas Wilder, M.D., a board member of the Bay Area Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, authored a piece in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times looking at the obvious and monumental benefits of legal reform in the state.