California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse and the National Federation of Independent Business in California teamed up for Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week (October 6-10) and have released a survey of over 800 small business people.  The results are somewhat stunning.  If you thought the stock market recently has been frightening just take a look at the results of the survey.  The survey is posted on CALA.com.

Some of the highlights are as follows:

? 98% of California’s small business owners believe that the number of lawsuits filed against businesses in California has hurt the state’s economy. 

? More than 4 in 5 think that the number of liability lawsuits is increasing. 

? More than 98% believe the number of lawsuits filed against businesses in California has a negative impact on business growth and prosperity. 

No, it is not the title of an upcoming Clint Eastwood movie.

Now that the budget has been signed, we can all focus on the 800 or so bills that the Governor has to deal with by October 1st.  On the civil justice front, CALA would like to see the Governor veto the following legislation:

AB 437 Jones:  Would result in significant new employer liability and damages exposure in virtually any lawsuit challenging workplace decisions.

AB 2947 Eng:  Prohibits voluntary arbitration agreements between seniors and long-term care facilities.  This legislation only helps lawyers, not seniors.

SB 1113 Migden:  Would further tip the scales in the plaintiffs’ favor by expanding the scope of reimbursable costs to a victorious plaintiff.  This kind of expansion of cost recovery would only create new incentives to sue.

Last week Citizen’s Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) released a new study focusing on prisoner litigation.  At a time when this state is in complete lock-down on the budget it seemed like an interesting topic to raise.  Civil litigation by prisoners  has cost the taxpayers of California nearly $200 million.  And that does not include federal class actions and the subsequent receiver and three judge panel put in place by federal courts or habeas corpus lawsuits. It also does not include the bureaucracy that is involved to deal with the litigation, such as the Litigation Coordinators at each of the 33 prisons in our state or the staff that assists them in monitoring the caseload and the administrative fees.  Some of these coordinators make nearly $120,000 a year.

Let me make it clear that not all lawsuits are frivolous.  Certainly there are issues that need to be heard and prisoners deserve  a venue for grievances, but spending an average $32 million dollars a year, enough to fund the care and feeding for nearly 500 prisoners, seems over the top.  I do not think the average citizen has a clue that  these costs are so high.