NFIB State Director Dawn McVea says Louisiana’s 7th-place finish in the American Tort Reform Foundation’s annual “Judicial Hellholes” underscores the need for tort reform in the state.
“Louisiana’s legal climate has improved somewhat in recent years, but things could be better.
“Small businesses are especially vulnerable when it comes to unwarranted and frivolous legal attacks. Small, family-owned businesses don’t have and can’t afford teams of lawyers to help defend them against every nuisance suit or frivolous accusation. When a small business is sued, it has to spend thousands of dollars to defend itself, even if the judge eventually throws out the case. Just one lawsuit can be enough to put a small business out of business.
“Our small business members are asking their legislators to support legislation balancing the scales of justice in next year’s legislative session.”
The foundation’s report says: “Louisiana has made strides over the past few years, but there is still work to be done if it wants to escape the Judicial Hellholes list once and for all. Meritless coastal litigation continues to bog down the state’s economy and drive jobs to neighboring states. Judges make headlines for all the wrong reasons and the state has opened the floodgates for COVID-19 litigation that has been stymied by other states.”
