Without badly needed tort reform, Florida’s small businesses will continue to suffer.
A new report from Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) shows that Floridians lose out on billions of dollars in income and over a hundred thousand jobs are lost each year due to lawsuits.
According to the report, Florida’s workforce is deprived of over $7.5 billion in personal income while 126,139 jobs are lost annually as a result of lawsuits in the Sunshine State.
“Unfortunately, as with other threats to our economy, small businesses are the hardest hit,” said NFIB’s Florida State Director Bill Herrle. “While larger businesses and corporations have the financial wherewithal to fend off big-money lawsuits, even so much as a small complaint can shut down local businesses that help our communities thrive.”
Florida’s legislature took the first steps in enacting tort reform this year, regulating the practice of homeowners signing over their insurance benefits to contractors, who can then file claims for overestimated repairs.
“No longer will attorneys be able to scheme with untrustworthy contractors to inflate claims and sue insurance companies for far more than could ever be warranted,” said Herrle.
Looking forward to the legislature’s 2020 session, top priorities for the small business community include:
- Shedding light on litigation financing and costly, frivolous lawsuits.
- Caps on medical malpractice.
· Establishing guides for attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases.
