A new ILR report finds that court rules designed to bring fairness and balance to asbestos litigation in West Virginia have been ignored, contributing to the state's poor legal environment. Read More
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Lisa A. Rickard, president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), issued the following statement today applauding the Wisconsin Senate for passing legislation promoting transparency and limiting contingency fees.. Read More
Oklahoma becomes the first state to subject lawsuit lenders to state consumer lending laws. Subsequently, Arkansas, Indiana, Nevada, Tennessee, Vermont, and West Virginia place the consumer lawsuit lending industry under state usury or licensing laws or adopt other safeguards. Read More
Last week, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee favorably reported the Furthering Asbestos Claims Transparency (FACT) Act of 2012. The FACT Act is common-sense, bipartisan legislation that would simply require the personal injury settlement trusts established by bankrupt asbestos lawsuit defendants to file quarterly reports with the bankruptcy courts that describe their claims. It would also require trusts to respond to still-solvent asbestos litigants' requests for information on claims. Opponents of the FACT Act contend that it is unnecessary because there is no evidence of widespread fraud in the trust system and that the bill would somehow diminish victims' rights. They're wrong on both counts. Read More
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Lisa A. Rickard, president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, made the following statement today about West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s new proposed procedures and guidelines for hiring outside counsel. “By adopting this policy, West Virginia will take a significant step to curb the troublesome practice of awarding contingency fee contracts to plaintiffs’ lawyers who are also major campaign contributors to the state attorney general, a reform needed for decades. “Such ‘pay-to-play’ schemes enrich lawyers at the expense of taxpayers and raise significant concerns about conflicts of interest, favoritism, the use of a public entity for personal gain, and fairness in prosecutions. Read More
Lisa A. Rickard, president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, made the following statement today about West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's new proposed procedures and guidelines for hiring outside counsel. Read More
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new national survey released today by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) finds that West Virginia’s lawsuit climate is the worst in the country. The survey awards West Virginia this dubious distinction for the fifth consecutive time, and the state has never ranked higher than 49th since the study’s inception in 2002.The significance of a state’s legal climate on business expansion decisions has steadily increased over the last five years. Seven out of ten respondents say a state’s lawsuit environment is likely to impact important business decisions at their company, such as where to locate or expand their businesses, a 13 percent increase from the survey results just five years ago. Read More
U.S. Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue comments on a new national survey -- released by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) - which finds that West Virginia's lawsuit climate is the worst in the country. The survey awards West Virginia this dubious distinction for the fifth consecutive time, and the state has never ranked higher than 49th since the study's inception in 2002. Read More
This panel at the 12th Annual Legal Reform Summit on October 26, 2011 examined the legal climate in the states, reforms and the impact on employment and business activity. It featured special remarks by Virginia Governor Robert F. McDonnell. Read More
WASHINGTON, D.C.—A report estimating the economic savings each state can realize by improving its legal environment was released at the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform’s (ILR) 12th Annual Legal Reform Summit today.
“Americans are rightly frustrated about the current state of the economy,” said ILR President Lisa A. Read More
Sitting in the defendant's chair can be a nightmare scenario for any small business owner. So imagine the toll of sitting in that seat over and over . . . and over.
That's not a hypothetical for the folks at Peachtree Pest Control - it's a terrible reality. Read More
Everyone has favorite childhood memories. For many people, those memories include rolling down slides, dangling off of monkey bars and swinging on swing sets at their local neighborhood playground.
But elementary school students in Cabell County, West Virginia, may miss out on some of those childhood pleasures. That is because the county's school system has decided to remove swing sets from all school playgrounds, due to lawsuit fears. Their story is featured as part of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform's Faces of Lawsuit Abuse campaign. Read More
In this movie theater trailer, William Smith, the Superintendent of Schools in Cabell County, West Virginia, describes how lawsuits took a school's swing sets away from kids. Learn more at FacesOfLawsuitAbuse.org. Read More
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform this week unveiled the latest public awareness advertising campaign for its Faces of Lawsuit Abuse program, featuring two stories that show the devastating effects of lawsuit abuse on small businesses and communities. Read More
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Lisa A. Rickard, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), made the following statement regarding the Revised Rules of Appellate Procedure that were unveiled earlier today by West Virginia Chief Justice Robin Jean Davis: Read More
It was no coincidence that a lawsuit filed against Coca Cola this February in New York City's federal court coincided with the release of a documentary called "The Coca Cola Case." The documentary featured the plaintiffs lawyers in the case—concerning allegations of violence against workers at a Guatemala bottling facility—and five others like it in Turkey and Colombia. Read More
WASHINGTON, DC—West Virginia’s lawsuit climate is once again ranked worst in the nation, according to Lawsuit Climate 2010: Ranking the States, a study released today by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR). The corporate lawyers familiar with the current litigation environment in West Virginia gave the state a last place ranking of each of the ten key elements used to determine a state’s overall position. Read More
LOS ANGELES, CA—A new national survey finds that California’s lawsuit climate is among the worst in the country and on par with states including Alabama, Louisiana, and West Virginia. Among local jurisdictions, Los Angeles’ courts were mentioned as the second worst in the nation for legal fairness after Chicago, Illinois. San Francisco’s courts were named as the sixth worst. Read More
WASHINGTON, DC—A new national survey finds that Louisiana’s lawsuit climate is ranked 49th out of 50 compared with other states. In the survey, released today by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), respondents also named New Orleans as one of the worst court systems in the nation, tied for tenth. Read More