The Civil Justice Association of California (CJAC) has released a first-time scorecard that gauges lawmakers’ recent work to foster parity and balance in the state’s civil court procedures, evaluating actions on key bills concerning liability expansions, frivolous litigation, reform, and other policy.
“The COVID-19 pandemic created a great deal of regulatory uncertainty in our workplaces, leaving essential businesses exposed to lawsuits that take advantage of these shifting rules,” Kyla Christoffersen Powell, CJAC president and CEO, told the Northern California Record by email.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, CJAC and a broad coalition of business organizations and legislators have advocated to protect small businesses and nonprofits from COVID-19 exposure claims when all state and medical safety guidelines are followed. We look forward to working with the legislature this year to address this mounting threat of litigation.”
Among the bills used in the scoring:
- AB 1035, which sought liability immunity for small businesses during the pandemic.
- SB 977, which would have given the Attorney General authority over health care provider affiliations.
- AB 1947, an expansion of filing time for labor code complaints.
- AB 2570, amending the California False Claims Act (CFCA) to allow civil enforcement tax-based lawsuits.
- AB 1436 and AB 2501, concerning new mandates for property owners amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
As noted in the scorecard’s section on methodology, “CJAC generally opposes creation of new private rights of action, which allow private lawsuits under civil laws normally enforced by government, as they incentivize profit-seeking suits that primarily benefit plaintiffs’ lawyers.”
Scorecard ratings ranged from 4% to 100%.
"We hope this will be a useful tool to inform California businesses and the public about their legislators’ efforts in maintaining balance in our courts and preventing lawsuit abuse,” Powell said in a statement. “We have to hold legislators accountable for the positive and negative impacts they have on California’s civil justice system.”