Member Sign In
Renew your Membership
Membership Directory
Member Benefits
About the Chamber

• Promote Your Business
• Money-Saving Programs
• Electronic Certificates of Origin

• Taxes
• Healthcare
• Legal Reform
• Labor Laws
• Environmental Laws
• Green Initiative
• More...

Acknowledging that a state's litigation environment affects companies' business decisions, including where to locate or do business, nearly 1,500 corporate counsel and senior litigators ranked Pennsylvania 34th for its lawsuit climate.

The study, conducted by national market research firm Harris Interactive, is the preeminent standard by which companies, policymakers and the media judge the legal fairness of a state's legal liability system.

"Lawsuit Climate 2010: Ranking the States" found that while Pennsylvania ranked a lackluster 34th overall, the Commonwealth fared even worse in the areas of overall treatment of tort and contract litigation, damages, timeliness of summary judgment or dismissal, discovery and judges' competence.

"This is yet another strike against Pennsylvania's competitiveness and ability to attract and grow business," PA Chamber Vice President Gene Barr said. "It's time for the legislature and the Rendell administration to realize that commonsense legal reform will expedite economic recovery for job creators and benefit consumers as well."

This study isn't simply another ranking of legal climates among the states; it's an assessment of how reasonable and balanced states' tort liability systems are perceived to be by U.S. businesses. According to the survey, 67 percent of respondents said that the litigation environment in a state is likely to impact decisions at their company, such as where to locate or expand their business.

Add Pennsylvania's poorly perceived legal climate to a corporate tax structure that strongly discourages investment and growth, and businesses have little incentive to expand or locate here.

Survey respondents were asked what they thought is the single worst aspect of the litigation environment that state policymakers should focus on to improve the business climate in their state. Tort reform issues in general tied caps and/or limits on damages as the most popular answer.

The PA Chamber's lawsuit abuse reform agenda has long included the protection of innocent sellers, a statute of repose in product liability actions, reasonable limits on economic damages and passage of the Fair Share Act, which would ensure that businesses are only held responsible for their degree of fault in civil liability cases.

Unfortunately, given the current political landscape, achieving meaningful legal reform has been akin to tilting at windmills. The last time a bipartisan effort got Fair Share legislation to Gov. Ed Rendell's desk, he vetoed the measure – despite expressing support for the legislation as a candidate for governor.

The Harris Interactive study is in its eighth year, and Pennsylvania has consistently ranked in the bottom third of states. Other studies have a similarly harsh assessment of the Commonwealth's culture of lawsuit abuse. The 2009 "Boardroom Guide to Litigation" ranked Pennsylvania dead last, citing an activist majority on the state Supreme Court and anti-reform majorities in the legislature.

The "Boardroom" study echoed the PA Chambers' repeated call to action that a lack of reform or expanded liability legislation will ultimately affect the bottom line of millions of job creators. The study cited the danger of pushing legal reform to the back burner in the wake of more pressing economic problems and financial cutbacks, and warned that the plaintiffs' bar recognizes this as the ideal time to outflank business in the state capitols of America.

The study warned "that if companies allow this to happen by cutting their support for legal reform, the same companies will wind up paying out exponentially more in coming years due to a legal environment that has been fully captured by the plaintiffs' bar."

The PA Chamber continues its efforts to convince lawmakers that commonsense legal reform will yield drastic improvements to legal and health-care costs, insurance premiums and create an environment more conducive to job growth and economic prosperity.