Reports Archive
ATRF Hellholes 2009
01.04.2010
WASHINGTON, D.C., December 15, 2009 – The American Tort Reform Foundation today released its annual Judicial Hellholes® report, naming some of the nation’s “most unfair civil court jurisdictions,” including first-time “Hellholes” New York City and the appellate courts of New Mexico, which join perennials South Florida, West Virginia, Cook County, Illinois, and Atlantic County, New Jersey.
The Facts about Medical Malpractice Liability
10.12.2009
As Washington debates national health care policy, FFCJ Partner Pacific Research Institute publishes a critical new report detailing tens of billions of dollars lost to defensive medicine, direct tort lawsuit costs, and liability insurance – important reading for concerned Americans!
FFCJ Fairness Matters, September 2009
10.12.2009
Download FFCJ's quarterly newsletter, Fairness Matters.
Trial Lawyers Inc Update 8
10.10.2009
HEALTH HAZARD:
Litigation Increases Medical Costs, but Lawyers Block Reform
Directorship’s 2009 Boardroom Guide to State Litigation Climates
08.29.2009
Following the lead of the 2008 federal elections, recent state elections have ushered in a new wave of pro-plaintiffs' bar lawmakers and judges. These changes are reflected in Directorship's Boardroom Guide to State Litigation Climates, the third annual collaboration of Directorship and the Foundation for Fair Civil Justice, a national coalition of more than 70 organizations working together to achieve business liability reforms at the state level.
Tort Tally, 2009
08.29.2009
This report identifies 18 reforms to state civil-justice systems that significantly reduce tort losses and/or tort insurance premiums. The cumulative effect of reforms across all tort categories is a 47-percent reduction in losses and a 16-percent reduction in insurance premiums for consumers.
Judicial Hellholes, 2008
08.28.2009
Judicial Hellholes are places where judges systematically apply laws and court procedures in an inequitable manner, generally against defendants in civil lawsuits. In this seventh annual report, ATRF shines its brightest spotlight on seven areas of the country that have developed reputations for uneven justice.
Jackpot Justice 2007 Report
08.19.2009
America’s out-of-control legal system imposes a staggering economic cost of over $865 billion every year according to a new scholarly study released today by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in San Francisco, California. This figure is 27 times more than the federal government spends on homeland security, 30 times what the National Institutes for Health dedicate to finding cures for deadly diseases, and 13 times the amount the Department of Education spends to help educate America’s children.
Harris Poll, 2008
08.16.2009
Judicial Hellholes, 2007
08.16.2009
2008 Tort Liability Index
08.16.2009
The Pacific Research Institute released its report comparing the legal climates of all 50 states. According to the U.S. Tort Liability Index: 2008 Report, Florida ranked the worst in terms of tort costs and litigation risks, while North Dakota ranked the best. In a separate ranking, the study also evaluated the tort laws of each state. Colorado had the best tort laws on its books, while Rhode Island had the worst.
Medical Crisis: A Pocketbook Matter for Employers
08.16.2009
In its updated 2008 report, Medical Crisis: A Pocketbook Matter for Employers, FFCJ contrasts Pennsylvania’s health care crisis with the condition of states that have adopted various medical liability reforms – and the contrast is stunning. Texas, for example, faced similar physician and facility flight through the 1990s, leaving wide swaths of the state – particular rural areas – without critical medical services. Why? Because Texas was a hotbed of medical malpractice lawsuits that resulted in astronomical medical liability insurance costs for medical professionals and high health insurance rates for employers and individuals. Since Texas adopted comprehensive legal and medical liability reforms, physicians have been locating to Texas, the state is retaining its young physicians, new facilities are opening in underserved areas, and insurance costs have been declining. Other states that have adopted comprehensive reforms – Mississippi and West Virginia, for example – are experiencing similar improvements.
Alabama AG Uses Contingency Fee Agreements to Sue Drug Manufacturers
08.15.2009
Alabama Attorney General Troy King is one of numerous state attorneys general who has turned to the private, contingency-fee plaintiff’s bar to prosecute actions on behalf of the state.
National Arbitration Forum Settlement with Minnesota Attorney General
08.15.2009
The Federalist Society’s newest issue of State AG Tracker, National Arbitration Forum Settlement with Minnesota Attorney General, is now available online. This issue, authored by Matthew R. Salzwedel and Devona Wells, focuses on the recent settlement between Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson and the National Arbitration Forum. State AG Tracker was created in an effort to increase regular dialogue concerning the role of state attorneys general. Some argue that state attorneys general overstep their roles by prosecuting cases and negotiating settlements with extraterritorial and sometimes national consequences. Others contend that they are simply serving the interests of their own citizens and filling a vacuum left by the failure of other state and federal agencies to address these issues.
2006 Tort Liability Index
08.13.2009
The study — “U.S. Tort Liability Index: 2006 Report” — authored by Dr. Lawrence J. McQuillan and Hovannes Abramyan under the auspices of the California-based think tank, Pacific Research Institute (PRI) — ranks the civil justice system of each state based on the economic inputs and outputs in 39 categories of empirical data. These categories include: the extent of monetary tort losses in each state; the existence of caps on certain damage awards; the enactment of substantive legal reform efforts by state legislatures; the adoption of procedural and structural reforms to discourage lawsuit abuse; and a more general analysis of the litigiousness of each state.
