US Tort Liability System Causes Lawyer to Sue Himself

U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform Statement on Cost of the U.S. Tort Liability System

WASHINGTON, March 13 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Lisa Rickard, president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, issued the following statement regarding Tillinghast Towers-Perrin's recent report on the cost of the U.S. tort system:

"Over the past year, we saw a federal judge uncover possible fraud in more than 10,000 silicosis lawsuits ... we saw a string of prosecutions due to massive fraud involved in the Fen-Phen litigation craze ... we saw state attorneys general deputize countless private plaintiffs' attorneys to target American employers ... and we saw an Illinois plaintiffs' attorney so awash in lawsuits that he actually sued himself by accident.

"Is it any surprise that the cost of our bloated tort liability system has risen again - this time to $260 billion?

"America's civil justice system was created to ensure access to the courts for those who have truly been injured or wronged, and some of the $260 billion is made up of these cases. Unfortunately, our courts are also being used as a legal roulette wheel by opportunistic plaintiffs' attorneys seeking to strike it rich at the expense of American businesses and the hard-working men and women they employ.

"As such, those victims who are truly deserving of justice take a back seat to the plaintiffs' attorneys who continue to clog the courts with frivolous suits.

"The plaintiffs' bar will no doubt attack this latest report. Yet, we challenge them to provide a more accurate analysis of a tort system in which as many as 80 percent of claimants in asbestos suits aren't even sick; in which only a quarter of settlements in medical liability cases actually goes to victims; and in which the reputation for lawsuit abuse in some states has become so poor that jobs are being destroyed and economic growth has been stunted."

Contact: Ginny Smith of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, 202-463-5824 or gsmith@uschamber.com; Web: http://www.instituteforlegalreform.org

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