Harold Kim, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), made the following statement today applauding the House Judiciary Committee’s passage of the “Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency (FACT) Act of 2013” (H.R. 982). The legislation would require asbestos personal injury settlement trusts authorized by federal bankruptcy law to disclose information on their claims on a...
The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) today released a study by NERA Economic Consulting showing that the U.S. has the world’s most costly legal system as a share of its economy.Click here to view the full report.The study compared liability costs as a percentage of GDP using general liability insurance sold to companies in Canada, Eurozone countries, and the U.S. because it covers similar types of costs...
It doesn’t get much more ridiculous in the world of ridiculous lawsuits than last month’s winner of our Most Ridiculous Lawsuit Poll: A woman who was suing for “severe and permanent injuries” because of a car accident nevertheless managed to finish a half-marathon (13.1 miles, that is) with the respectable time of 2 hours 43 minutes. While running 12-minute miles won’t win you any Olympic gold medals, it certainly...
Don Briggs, president of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, today invokes his state's 49th-in-the-country ranking in ILR's Lawsuit Climate survey, in making the case for the need for common sense lawsuit reforms in the Pelican State.Writing in the Louisiana Record, Briggs points out:Specifically in the oil and gas industry, nearly 300 legacy lawsuits have been filed against oil and gas operators who have drilled...
Today, a Colorado appeals court heard arguments in an important case testing whether Colorado law places any limits on out-of-control lawsuit lenders. Colorado courts are among the first in the country to decide whether consumer lending laws apply equally to lawsuit lenders, or if – as the lawsuit loan sharks have argued – they have unfettered freedom to exploit borrowers with interest rates as high as 100% or more...