Author: Tom Scott

One thing I have realized about trial lawyers is that they are everywhere. I used to think they would be just in the courts or

This has definitely been a wild year for legal reform in the State of California. With a Democratic Legislature and governor, you would think the

Every once and a while, I get glimmers of hope on the prospect of legal reform in California. The passage of AB 1219 by Assemblyman

If you’re familiar with California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) you will know that we focus a lot of attention on private lawsuits. However, we

Economic development comes from investment, right? Investors are the people who will drive our state back to success. If investors do not think California has

Recently, KABC in Los Angeles and reporter Marc Brown did a story https: story?section=”news/local/los_angeles&id=8329671″> on a serial ADA lawsuit filer who says he is disabled

The election season has begun and the political posturing is under way. The battle for political power is in full swing. With new districts and an open primary, it is a whole new ballgame and business as usual is just not going to cut it.

Candidates: while I do not claim to be a campaign consultant, I have worked for a few politicians and I think I have a good issue for you to run on – legal reform.

Voters want legal reform. Our economic times demand that we have legal reform. Lawsuits affect every issue I can throw at you. Healthcare, education, police and fire protection, business, and the list goes on. The impact of litigation is huge and it costs our economy hundreds of millions of dollars.

When people are being laid off they might want to think about the impact litigation has on businesses’ (and public entities’) bottom line. It is huge. If a business has to settle a wage and hour class action for hundreds of thousands of dollars, that is money the business cannot spend to grow or hire new workers.

On Tuesday, August 23rd, California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse joined with legislators to hold a press conference at the State Capitol announcing the results of a voter survey recently done in California. The survey asked votes if lawsuit reform an important part of improving California’s business environment and attracting and keeping good jobs.

Let’s pause a moment to put the ugly debt ceiling debate into perspective. If there’s one thing voters learned over the past few weeks, it is that our leaders will do almost anything to avoid an honest discussion about our country’s problems. A responsible discussion about cutting public sector costs would surely have included legal reforms, yet I did not hear that issue raised once throughout the debate.

Legal reforms are a common sense, no cost solution that would help our local, state and federal governments address the cost drivers that greatly contribute to the public sector debt. These drivers include and are not limited to health care costs and the cost of legal services to public entities.

The U.S. tort system costs every man, woman and child in the U.S. a yearly “tort tax” of $808. That is $3,232 for a family of four, a huge cost for many families that are struggling to make ends meet these days. Add into the equation the impact of lawsuits on schools and cities and counties and you it’s obvious that legal reforms would have a hugely beneficial impact for our nation.