Earlier today, Governor Ron DeSantis, Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, and Speaker Paul Rennerannounced their shared priority of passing the “most significant legal reform in modern history” during the 2023 legislative session to “decrease frivolous litigation and prevent predatory practices of trial attorneys.” In attendance were Mark Wilson, President & CEO of the Florida Chamber, our partners at the Florida Trucking Association, and Florida Chamber member Robert Sandlin, President & CEO of Patriot Transportation, who shared his company’s experience with Florida’s bottom-5 legal climate.
A long-standing Florida Chamber priority, Florida’s lawsuit abuse climate stifles the state’s competitiveness and negatively impacts Floridians when Florida has otherwise led the way in creating one of the most business-friendly environments in the nation. As Mark Wilson wrote in an op-ed published today, Florida’s lawsuit abuse problem isn’t a surprise to anyone traveling down Florida’s highways, where billboard after billboard invites residents and visitors to sue someone or a local business. The op-ed goes on to call for lawmakers to join the Governor, President and Speaker in putting local businesses ahead of billboard trial lawyers by passing comprehensive and meaningful lawsuit abuse reform.
After the press conference, the Governor issued a release with more specifics about the forthcoming proposed legislation. The proposal includes:
- Full elimination of one-way attorney fees for all lines of insurance and elimination of attorney fee multipliers to disincentivize frivolous litigation and build on last year’s special sessions on property insurance.
- “Modernizing” bad faith to balance the scales between plaintiff attorneys and business.
- Transparency in damages, which would protect business from being subjected to exorbitant damages by allowing the jury to see the amount generally accepted for a medical procedure rather than the amount that is billed.
- Contributory negligence, which would prevent predatory, sue-and-settle lawsuits if the plaintiff is found to be primarily at fault.
The Florida Chamber offered the following quote in response to today’s historic announcement:
“Despite Florida’s momentum, our bottom five legal climate is hurting local businesses. The Florida Chamber stands with Governor Ron DeSantis, Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, and House Speaker Paul Renner and recognizes their continued leadership on tackling Florida’s inflationary lawsuit abuse problem, which is holding back Florida’s competitiveness and costing Florida families $5,065 a year. We thank them for their leadership in prioritizing this issue and for pushing commonsense reforms to rebalance the scales of justice” said Florida Chamber President & CEO Mark Wilson.
We thank Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida’s legislative leaders for pledging to address the state’s lawsuit abuse climate with meaningful and comprehensive reforms in the upcoming legislative session.
Get Involved:
We will alert Florida Chamber members as soon as legislative text is filed. If you have questions or would like to get involved in the Florida Chamber’s efforts to improve Florida’s bottom-five legal climate, contact Frank Walker at fwalker@flchamber.com of 850-521-1200.