By Mark Wilson and Harold Kim, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
October 22, 2019
The newly released 2019 Lawsuit Climate Survey: Ranking the States, by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, ranks the Florida 46 out of 50 — remaining unchanged from the last survey in 2017. Despite its low ranking, recent reforms and changes show sunnier days are ahead for Florida’s lawsuit climate.
What Florida’s poor ranking does reflect is decades of lawsuit abuse by billboard trial lawyers. Previously, Florida’s legislature was reluctant to pass reforms because of an activist state Supreme Court that routinely overturned legislative reforms. Plaintiffs’ lawyers used that to their advantage to get massive paydays through excessive litigation, at the expense of Florida families, small businesses and job creators.