With California now back at the top of the annual Judicial Hellholes ranking from the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA), it’s raising questions about whether state lawmakers may undertake reforms when the legislative session resumes in early January.
The ATRA report details how much the current system is costing taxpayers and hurting job creation.
“California's civil justice system has been out of balance for years; making matters worse, the courts often exacerbate the problem, such as a recent court decision allowing time-barred PAGA claims to move forward,” Kyla Christoffersen Powell, president and CEO of the Civil Justice Association of California (CJAC), said in an email response to the Northern California Record.
“Unfortunately, the legislature has been unresponsive to reasonable legal reform proposals, including those aimed at protecting small businesses from harmful shakedown lawsuits,” Powell said.
A bill introduced earlier this year, AB 247, that would have protected small businesses and nonprofits from predatory Covid-related lawsuits, was not given a committee hearing; nor have other legislative reform efforts made it out of committee.
Meanwhile initiatives proposed by CJAC, which would protect injured consumers in court cases from delayed resolution and improper compensation, have been submitted to the Secretary of State as part of the qualification process for the November 2022 election ballot
“CJAC’s recently filed ballot initiatives take reasonable legal reforms directly to the voters next November,” Powell said. “CJAC has been successful with ballot measures in the past, and recent polling by CJAC shows that Californians today recognize our civil justice system needs reforms.”
A CJAC news release notes that the initiatives propose to limit attorneys’ fees that can be collected from injured consumers at 20 percent.
“So consumers keep more of the compensation they deserve, and get it sooner,” the release states. “The current system puts attorneys first, allowing them to collect 40 or 50 percent of their clients’ recoveries.”