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APRIL 13, 2011 | Commentary by DAVID TAYLOR
Bring PA Toward the Mainstream in Limiting Lawsuit Abuse
Having defeated a slew of trial-lawyer amendments, Pennsylvania's House of Representatives approved the Fair Share Act for the third time on Monday. The legislation, which has passed both chambers of the General Assembly twice before, would reform the outdated deep-pockets rule of "joint-and-several" liability by establishing proportion
APRIL 5, 2011 | Compilation by ANTONY DAVIES, LAURA VICINIE, JONATHAN SCOTT, KAIT WOLF, LAUREN MONDSCHEIN, DEVIN BOWEN, NATHAN BENEFIELD
Public Policy and Free Enterprise in Pennsylvania
A Compilation
Public Policy and Free Enterprise in Pennsylvania represents a partnership with the Commonwealth Foundation and the department of economics at Duquesne University. Key findings in these five papers include Over the past sixty years, increases in union membership rates correlate with slower growth in real per
JANUARY 17, 2011 | Policy Report by COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION
80 Ideas for a Prosperous Pennsylvania
A Blueprint for Transforming the Commonwealth
Pennsylvania must undergo a rapid transformation to reverse the poor policy decisions that have eroded economic freedoms and brought the state to its present condition. To provide a roadmap for success in this critical endeavor, the Commonwealth Foundation has compiled a list of 80 policy recommendations for Gov. Corbett and state legi
Recent Blog Posts
DECEMBER 21, 2011
More on Hellholes, of the Judicial Sort
The yearly Judicial Hellhole report from the American Tort Reform Foundation ranks Philadelphia as the number one judicial hellhole for the second year in a row.
Pennsylvania's court system is archaic, without protections against frivolous lawsuits like those enacted in other states. In the Keystone State, there are no caps on punitive damages and lawyers can "venue shop" to seek out the most generous courts and file lawsuits there instead of where the incident occurred.
Philadelphia has been especially plaintiff-friendly, with expedited procedures, a reputation for a high plaintiff win rate and generous awards. On top of all these goodies, Philadelphia is home to the Complex Litigation Center, which expedites massive class-actions suits, like those filed against pharmaceutical companies.
All these advantages lead to massive amounts of litigation paid for by businesses and residents. It's no wonder Philadelphia has twice the litigation per capita as any other county in the state.
Thankfully Pennsylvania is taking small steps forward. In 2003, the MCARE Act put a stop to venue shopping for malpractice suits and saw caseloads in Philadelphia drop 58 percent. This year, Gov. Corbett signed the "Fair Share" act which protects plaintiffs from being held liable for paying more in damages than is proportional to their level of responsibility. And this month a bill to prohibit all venue shopping (HB 1976) was voted out of the House Judiciary Committee.
posted by ELIZABETH STELLE | 09:31 AM | 0 comment
APRIL 13, 2011
PA House Passes Four Reform Bills this Week
Monday night, after prolonged debate, the chamber finally passed a top priority piece of legislation on lawsuit abuse reform, HB 1. Better known as the Fair Share Act, HB 1 protects plaintiffs from being held liable for paying more in damages than is proportional to their level of responsibility. Studies show tort reform is not only good for the parties that get sued, but the entire economy. See how your representative voted here.
The Pennsylvania State House has been especially productive this week, passing four pieces of key legislation that CF blogged on last week.
Yesterday, the chamber passed three of the GOP's eight welfare reform bills including: requiring the Department of Public Welfare to cross-reference applications with other state databases to ensure eligibility, increasing penalties for welfare fraud, and verifying permanent addresses to prevent applicants from crossing county lines to collect assistance from counties with more generous benefits.
posted by ELIZABETH STELLE | 04:50 PM | 0 comment
APRIL 6, 2011
Is Lawsuit Abuse Reform Coming to PA?
Pennsylvania is on its way to joining the 41 states that have either repealed or updated their joint and several liability law.
HB 1, known as the Fair Share Act, would address Pennsylvania's joint and several liability law, which forces defendants with deep pockets to pay the entire settlements even if they had little to do with it. For example, a hospital could be held 1 percent liable for injuries in a malpractice suit, but could be forced to pay the entire amount of a jackpot award, as the other plaintiffs—who were 99 percent responsible for injuries—don't have the same "deep pockets".
This type of tort system rewards lawsuit abuse and is detrimental to Pennsylvania's economic vitality.
State representatives should vote against amendments that weaken the bill. You can take action by telling your local officials to pass HB 1.
Learn more about PA's jackpot justice here.
posted by KATRINA CURRIE | 05:37 PM | 0 comment
