Coffee roasters, distributors and coffee lovers received a favorable ruling this week when Superior Court Judge Elihu M. Berle ended a decade-long lawsuit, ruling that the coffee industry had met their burden of showing that acrylamide, found in that of coffee following the roasting and brewing process, doesn’t cause cancer.  Now, the Office of Environmental […]

They would have preferred staying home to tend to their stores, shops and services. But they had to be there to stand up for their economic livelihood and to protect the jobs of their loyal employees. More than 150 small business owners and supporters gathered for a boisterous rally April 4 on the lawns of […]

Last week, Governor Jerry Brown signed a budget that included more state oversight over the thousands of frivolous Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) lawsuits being filed against California businesses. Both Senate Pro Tem Kevin de Leon and Assembly Leader Anthony Rendon also indicated to Assemblywoman Shannon Grove that they would be helpful to her efforts […]

The State Bar regulates and licenses the nearly quarter of a million attorneys in California, and is also responsible for punishing those who violate legal and ethical standards – but it is clearly not doing its job effectively. In June, a state audit found that the State Bar fails to adequately punish attorneys who violate its standards. […]

California is known nationwide as a “Judicial Hellhole” for the absurd lawsuits tolerated nowhere but here. California has absurd class action lawsuits, widespread lawsuit abuse associated with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Proposition 65, and constant attempts by plaintiffs’ lawyers to make our state’s problem with lawsuit abuse even worse. But every now and then, lawyers come up empty-handed in their […]

The final weeks of the legislative session have arrived, and that means it is silly season in the State Capitol. At this time of year, trial lawyers use every trick they have to expand litigation and make sure our state’s lawsuit system continues to mainly serve the interests of lawyers rather than ordinary people. One […]

The troubling state of our economy is, appropriately, being discussed all around us.
While Americans are making less, losing their jobs and fighting to keep their head above water, there is yet another clandestine way we are being robbed of our hard-earned money. In times of economic uncertainty, we need to be more aware than ever of where our every dollar is going.

Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week, (October 6 to 10) is the ideal time to illustrate one tax most people are unaware they even pay – the lawsuit tax. In its 2007 annual report on U.S. tort cost trends, Tillinghast Towers Perrin found that our country paid $247 billion in tort costs. That comes out to $825 for every man, woman and child, or $3,300 for a family of four.

This “tax” is excised in numerous ways, such as higher prices for goods and services, higher insurance premiums, and higher medical and pharmaceutical bills.

As hard as this cost hits citizens, it impacts company’s even harder, particularly small businesses. A recent survey by California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) and members of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) found that lawsuits have a significant impact on the small business community.