The trial bar is, without a doubt, one of the nation’s most powerful political players. Wealthy personal injury lawyers donate millions of dollars to political candidates with a single goal – elect their friends to office so they can further their lawsuit-creation agenda. 

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.

Something frightful brewing
A newly released report questions the activist tendencies of one of Louisiana’s regional appellate courts, where a number of rulings seem to ignore well-established legal statutes in an apparent attempt to manipulate the law to achieve preferred outcomes. – Daily Comet
 
Time to act on ‘lawsuit abuse’

Another day, another personal injury lawyer in trouble. Latest on our list is Thomas Corea from Texas. Maybe you’ve heard of him? He used to host a biweekly call-in TV show, called “Ask the Lawyer with Tom Corea.”

We hope you never called him for legal advice, though – turns out he wasn’t very good! He was recently convicted of stealing from several of his clients, with a counsel for the state bar calling it the “most extreme case of lawyer misconduct” that she had ever seen.   

Editor’s Note: Project Lawsuit Abuse regularly highlights lawsuit abuse news from across the country. Today, Jennifer Harris of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse of Central Texas contributed a guest post for Project Lawsuit Abuse.

In Texas, organizations across the state are engaging consumers as part of the CALA’s “It Starts With You” campaign to recognize the nationally celebrated “Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week” (LAAW), dedicated to educating citizens about the cost and consequences of lawsuit abuse.

Hardly a decade ago, Texas had a reputation as a Judicial Hellhole. The state was known as a place where personal injury lawyers came to play the lawsuit lottery, and Texans were feeling the effects. Their economy suffered and their medical costs were out of control.

Things were particularly bad in Rio Grande Valley, Texas. Medical malpractice suits had driven insurance costs up so much that doctors could hardly afford to practice. In 2003, finally fed up with the legal climate, hundreds of doctors staged a walkout in Rio Grande Valley to draw attention to the problem.

Here at Sick of Lawsuits, we’re well-acquainted with abuses of our civil justice system. We’ve seen all sorts of outrageous lawsuits filed by folks looking to play the lawsuit lottery for a quick buck. So it really says something that even WE were surprised at the ridiculousness of a recent slip and fall lawsuit filed in Texas. 

In 2012, Danny Stilley was in a restaurant and tripped and fell while heading to an elevated seating section, injuring himself. His lawsuit now claims that the restaurant’s “busy carpet pattern” prevented him from detecting the change in floor elevation, as the pattern obscured the change.

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.

If you’re walking along the road and you see conditions that could cause you to slip, you should probably take it upon yourself to watch where you’re going, right? Unfortunately, people who fail to watch their step all too often decide to blame others for their mistakes by filing slip and fall lawsuits. This happened in a recent Texas lawsuit, where a woman slipped over peanut shells on the floor of a restaurant and decided to sue for more than $1 million!

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. – Project Lawsuit Abuse

Patent litigation surge against small businesses shows need for reform

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 know anything about legal reforms, you know that Texas is way ahead of the game. The state has passed some of the best legal reforms in the country, which is why the state is also a leader in healthcare, jobs and business! 

Editor’s Note: Project Lawsuit Abuse regularly highlights lawsuit abuse news from across the country. Today, Travis Akin, Executive Director of Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch, contributed a guest post for Project Lawsuit Abuse.

Small business owners face many challenges – especially here in Illinois where businesses have to deal with onerous regulations, high taxes and fees and a culture of lawsuit abuse.

For example, an owner of a small grocery store told me he often thinks about leaving Illinois and opening up a store in a more business-friendly environment. He said every year his business is the target of litigation.