After Senate State Government Committee Chairman Chris Dush, R-Cameron, held a public hearing last week regarding S.B. 125, legislation that would allow the legislature to determine matters of venue, Sen. Dush wrote a letter to the Supreme Court demanding to know the outcome of a review of the Court’s rescission of the venue rule.

According to the Pennsylvania Coalition for Civil Justice Reform, venue determines where a case can be filed in the Commonwealth. When plaintiffs’ attorneys venue shop, they seek to file medical liability lawsuits in Philadelphia and other high verdict jurisdictions in search of large payouts — even though the location of the court has no connection to the case.

A rule was enacted in 2003 requiring cases to be filed only where the alleged injury occurred. As a result of the rule, the number of medical liability cases filed in Philadelphia and other high verdict court systems plummeted. However, in late 2022, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court unilaterally rescinded the medical liability venue rule.

In his letter, Sen. Dush noted that “…Tucked inside that same rule change was this provision: (g) The Civil Procedural Rules Committee shall reexamine the 2022 rule amendments two years after their effective date.”

Since the Court rescinded the rule in 2022, the state legislature and the public are unaware of the findings of the Civil Procedural Rules Committee and what, if anything, the Supreme Court intends to do to mitigate the harsh impacts of the medical liability venue rule.

In addition to calling on the Court to immediately inform the voters of the outcome of the Civil Procedural Rules Committee’s review and what action, if any, the Supreme Court intends to take, Sen. Dush demanded that they release this information prior to the General Election on Tuesday, November 4.

“Transparency and the credibility of the court hang in the balance. Please release this information so that Pennsylvania voters are not kept in the dark,” Sen. Dush wrote. “In just a few days, Pennsylvanians will head to the polls and cast a critical vote: whether to retain Supreme Court Justices Dougherty, Donohue, and Wecht for another ten-year term. The voters of Pennsylvania deserve to know what the Supreme Court does on this critical issue.”

Click here to view Senator Dush’s letter.