Indiana’s legacy of legal reform has a been a key driver of the state’s economic momentum. Policymakers have an opportunity to take that momentum further, while improving affordability for Hoosiers by reducing the state’s tort cost burden of nearly $3,000 per household. ILR’s latest research paper examines the status of legal reform in the Hoosier state, documenting its history, recent developments, and how the Indiana Supreme Court shapes the civil justice environment. Six areas of reform, identified in this paper, will help foster conditions of continued growth and prosperity for businesses, communities, and families:
- Codify public nuisance law to prevent its transformation into a “super tort” that targets manufacturers of lawful products with sweeping liability.
- Limit noneconomic damages in personal injury cases to bring predictability to pain and suffering awards that currently vary wildly from case to case.
- Address misleading lawsuit advertising that bombards Hoosiers with unrealistic promises of easy money and conditions juries to expect multimillion dollar verdicts as the norm.
- Encourage people to resolve disputes without litigation by raising the costs of rejecting reasonable settlement offers, providing meaningful deterrence against frivolous litigation that wastes everyone’s time and money.
- Establish reasonable constraints on negligent security claims that attempt to hold businesses liable for unpredictable criminal acts committed by third parties on business property.
- Allow bifurcated trials to separate liability questions from damages, reducing emotional prejudice and encouraging the impartial decision making that justice demands.
