ILR President Lisa Rickard: U.S. Tort System is “Inefficient”

In a new op-ed in The Hill, U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) President Lisa A. Rickard said a new study proves that “Americans are paying a premium” for a tort system “that sometimes fails to deliver.”

Last week, ILR released a study conducted by The Brattle Group called “Costs and Compensation of the U.S. Tort System,” which found that the total costs paid into the U.S tort system  was $429 billion in 2016—the highest ever recorded.

According to Rickard, that is almost six times the Department of Education’s budget that year and nearly three-quarters of the country’s defense budget. The report also found that only 57 cents of every dollar went to plaintiff compensation (before contingency fees were subtracted), with the rest going to lawyers, administrative costs, and insurance costs.

An editorial published yesterday in the New York Post also highlighted the study.