WASHINGTON, DC—A new national survey ranks Delaware’s litigation environment number one in the country for fairness. The survey, Lawsuit Climate 2010: Ranking the States, released today by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) shows that Delaware has led the other 49 states since the survey was first conducted in 2002. Read More
The U.S. Chamber's Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) today released its survey ranking the states with the best and worst legal climates in the country. According to the survey, the states with the worst legal climates are California (46th), Alabama (47th), Mississippi (48th), Louisiana (49th), and West Virginia (50th). The states with the best legal climates are Delaware (1st), North Dakota (2nd), Nebraska (3rd), Indiana (4th), and Iowa (5th). Read More
My name is Bryan Quigley. Growing up in Springfield, Missouri, I was the only “Bryan Quigley” I knew. But now, thanks to instant information available on the Web and the explosion of social networking Web sites, I realize my name is not as unusual as I once assumed.
Quick searches on Facebook and LinkedIn tell me there are at least 22 others with the name “Bryan Quigley” around the world—including three in Northern Virginia, where I currently reside. Add those to the 132 “Brians” spelled with an “I”, and we have our own little Bryan/Brian Quigley army. But heaven forbid any one of us becomes rich and/or famous—we just might be facing a lawsuit. Read More
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today released a letter sent to Attorney General Eric Holder highlighting widespread evidence of asbestos litigation fraud and the necessity of immediate and serious intervention. Read More
The Institute for Legal Reform's seventh annual ranking of the 50 state lawsuit systems is out. Each year, the immediate curiosity is always, "who's on top? Who's at the bottom?" For the record, Delaware is again number one, although by the slimmest of margins. For the third year running, West Virginia is number fifty, though showing some signs of improvement. Read More
WASHINGTON, DC – West Virginia’s legal climate is once again ranked as the worst in the country, according to Lawsuit Climate 2008: Ranking the States, the annual assessment of state liability systems conducted by Harris Interactive, a leading national market research firm, and released today by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR).
West Virginia’s legal climate ranked last among the fifty states for the third straight year, although its raw score in the study has improved over the last several years. Read More
WASHINGTON, DC - Senior attorneys at America's largest employers say state court liability systems have steadily improved over the last several years, but less than half of them rate the state courts as "excellent" or "pretty good." These lawyers say Delaware still has the best legal climate in the country, and West Virginia remains the worst. Read More
WASHINGTON, DC – Louisiana’s legal climate is ranked as the second worst in the country, according to Lawsuit Climate 2008: Ranking the States, the annual assessment of state liability systems conducted by Harris Interactive, a leading national market research firm, and released today by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR).
Louisiana ranked 49th out of 50 states in the study, down one spot from the previous year. In addition, New Orleans/Orleans Parish was named among the ten least fair and reasonable court systems in the country. Read More
WASHINGTON, D.C.-U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform President Lisa A. Rickard issued the following statement on the Judicial Hellholes 2007 report released today by the American Tort Reform Foundation (ATRF) Read More
When West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw sued drug maker PurduePharma over misrepresentation of its pain killer OxyContin, he petitioned the court saying, "This action involves the impact of State action against one of the most vulnerable and dependant sections of West Virginia society, the elderly and disabled."
McGraw was able to extract a $10 million settlement, but instead of reimbursing the state Medicaid program for its share of the lawsuit settlement, the Attorney General has been distributing this money to his favorite projects and institutions across the state: a pharmacy school, a day laborer center, a drug rehab facility and dozens of other places.
Meanwhile the state Medicaid program has seen a grand total of: zero dollars. Read More
Last year, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America decided that a few among their ranks had brought disrepute to the trial lawyers' reputation. So they decided to take a stand against the bad actors in their ranks and call for reforms to reduce outrageous lawsuits.
If only.
At last year's meeting, the trial lawyers instead decided the easier solution was a new name: the American Association for Justice, a moniker created to be, in their words, "about what we do, not who we are." Read More
WASHINGTON, D.C.-The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) has launched a new public awareness campaign highlighting the recent name change by West Virginia's trial lawyer organization and the motives behind the coordinated effort now happening in at least 11 states. The SameLeopardNewSpots.com Web site criticizes the West Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, now calling itself the West Virginia Association for Justice, for trying to conceal its identity from the public by changing its name. Read More
CHARLESTON, WV.-Sixty percent of West Virginia small business owners say they are very or somewhat concerned about the impact of frivolous lawsuits on their businesses, and many alter business decisions as a result, according to a study by the nonpartisan market research firm Harris Interactive. Read More
Is your state a good one in which to do business?
How you answer that question could be affected by a number of factors, but in our increasingly lawsuit-happy society, many companies are looking at the fairness of a state's court system when deciding where to do business. Their decision affects jobs, tax revenue, and other economic development opportunities.
Each year, the Institute for Legal Reform joins with Harris Interactive to survey practicing corporate attorneys and general counsel, asking them a comprehensive battery of questions to determine what they think of each state's lawsuit climate. And once again this year the majority of our respondents affirmed that the litigation environment in a state is likely to impact their important business decisions, such as where to do business or locate their facilities. Read More
WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) released a study today showing that Delaware has the best legal climate in the country, and West Virginia has the worst. Those are among the findings of Lawsuit Climate 2007: Ranking the States, an annual assessment of state liability systems conducted by the nonpartisan polling firm Harris Interactive. Read More
Washington, DC - Statement by Lisa Rickard, President of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform on today's opinion by Judge Harry Hanna of the Court of Common Pleas, Cuyahoga County, Ohio (Jack Kananian, et al., vs. Lorillard Tobacco Company, Case No. 442750): Read More
WASHINGTON, D.C.-U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform President Lisa A. Rickard issued the following statement on the Judicial Hellholes 2006 report released today by the American Tort Reform Foundation (ATRF): Read More
WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) today announced that West Virginia's legal climate has fallen to last place out of the 50 states in the 2006 Harris State Liability Systems Ranking Study. In addition, various West Virginia jurisdictions were named among the least fair and reasonable jurisdictions in the country. Read More
WASHINGTON, DC-West Virginia, Louisiana, Illinois, California, and Texas were among the worst states for legal fairness, while Mississippi is improving after enacting legal reforms, according to a new ranking of the best and worst state legal systems released today by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR). "This survey sends a clear message to states whose legal climate drives away businesses, jobs, and economic development," said Tom Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "If you want a healthy state economy, clean up your act." Read More
WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) today announced that Illinois' legal climate has shown minor improvement, moving up one spot to number 45 in the 2006 Harris State Liability Systems Ranking Study. However, a number of Illinois jurisdictions were named among the least fair and reasonable in the country. Read More