Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse of Central Texas

Fort Worth Star Telegram
November 2, 2009

Dick the Butcher in Shakespeare’s play Henry VI voiced the famous line, "The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers."

It has been repeated, usually out of context, since the play was first performed.

Most believe that Dick is suggesting doing away with the legal profession as a means of improving society. That isn’t the case.

Dick’s intent was to rid himself and his fellow anarchists of the impediments that laws and lawyers posed to the free exercise of their criminal pursuits. Shakespeare’s point was that lawyers are necessary for a peaceful society to exist because there’s never been a shortage of individuals, like Dick, trying to take advantage of loopholes in the system.

It’s like the comedian Gallagher says: "Everywhere society leaks, somebody hangs a bucket."

Speaking of leaking — back in 1994, there was no single area in which Texas was more a leaky bucket than in the area of lawsuit abuse.

We had a runaway civil justice system that permitted frivolous lawsuits and outrageous awards, and was notoriously unfair to litigants. In 1994, responding to these inequities, a group of concerned citizens founded Texans for Lawsuit Reform, which has grown into the largest state civil justice reform organization in the United States.

Before Texans for Lawsuit Reform, Texas was called the "Lawsuit Capital of the World" by The Wall Street Journal. The Old West challenge of "I’ll meet you on Main Street at high noon," had been replaced by "I’ll see you in court," because, in Texas, anybody could sue anybody for anything with no fear of repercussions.

A result was the increase of Texas liability insurance premiums and the wholesale loss of medical doctors to early retirement or by having them move to states with limits on lawsuits and damage awards.

Working with Texans for Lawsuit Reform, state legislators passed and Texans approved in 2003 limits on awards in medical malpractice suits, establishment of proportional responsibility and "hold harmless" laws for Good Samaritans who render aid to victims of accident or illness, and the curtailment of "judge-shopping" that allowed lawyers to try a lawsuit in any county in order to find a court particularly inclined to favor their case.

These accomplishments and many more are due largely to the efforts of Texans for Lawsuit Reform. But what have been the tangible benefits of these reforms?

The New York Times noted in 2007 that Texas lawsuit reform had predictably resulted in doctors "arriving from all parts of the country to swell the ranks of specialists at Texas hospitals." That’s healthcare reform for you; Texas- style.

We note that Texas is faring better than the rest of the nation in terms of unemployment and property values. In 2008, Ray Perryman wrote in "The Impact of Lawsuit Reform on Business Activity in the Lone Star State" that "Approximately 8.5 percent of economic growth over the past decade is the result of lawsuit reform."

Additionally, in 2008, the nationally recognized Perryman Group determined that lawsuit reforms had resulted in a $112.5 billion increase in spending in Texas, a $2.6 billion increase in annual tax revenues, and 499,000 new, permanent jobs.

A prime illustration was Toyota’s decision to locate its full-size truck assembly plant in San Antonio based directly on the business-friendly legal climate in Texas.

And yet there is much more work to be done. For instance, Texans for Lawsuit Reform is pushing for a "loser pays" provision wherein a winning defendant may be able to recoup legal expenses. Such a requirement would discourage more meritless lawsuits that cost thousands of dollars to defend.

We don’t need to kill all the lawyers, but lawsuit reform is good for Texans and Texas business. As you consider for whom to vote in 2010, give your consideration to candidates who back lawsuit reform.

Roy Shockey of Keller is a member of the Star-Telegram’s 2009 Community Columnist Panel. royshockey@aol.com