Bill Herrle, NFIB’s state executive director for Florida, joined other leaders today at a news conference at the State Capitol to discuss Economic Benefits of Tort Reform, a rigorous economic study calculating the costs of Florida’s current civil laws in comparison to benchmarks in other states. Florida has consistently ranked in the bottom 5 of all 50 states for lawsuit climate, as ranked by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform.
Click here to download and read the study.
The study calculates that tort costs to the Florida economy are significant:
- $10.0 billion in annual direct costs
- $15.5 billion in annual output (gross product) 161,735 jobs when dynamic effects are considered
- $811.1 million in annual State revenues and $679.4 million in annual local government revenues.
Excess torts result in a “tort tax” of $719.01 per person.
“This study underscores the urgent need for lawsuit reform in Florida,” said Bill Herrle, the NFIB’s state executive director for Florida.
“Small businesses are especially vulnerable to legal attacks,” Herrle said. “The cost of defending against a single baseless lawsuit can be enough to put a small business out of business—even if the case ultimately is thrown out of court.
“The small business community is eager to work with Governor DeSantis and legislative leaders to curb lawsuit lending, pass accuracy-in-damages reform, and stop lawsuits brought in ‘bad faith’ with the intent to cancel policy limits,” he said.
Other speakers in the press conference included state Sen. Doug Broxson, chair of the Committee on Banking and Insurance; Rep. Bob Rommel, chair of the Civil Justice Subcommittee; and Julio Fuentes, president and CEO of the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
A 2017 survey of corporate attorneys found that 85 percent of respondents indicated that the litigation environment in a state is likely to impact business decisions and corporate relocations.
