AIA Seeks Reform For W.Va. Litigation ?Hellhole'

AIA Seeks Reform For W.Va. Litigation ?Hellhole'

By Daniel Hays

NU Online News Service, Dec. 19, 2:52 p.m. EST?An insurance trade group said it hopes local business support gives a needed push next month to pass legislation that will prevent the West Virginia civil litigation system from performing as a "judicial hellhole."[@@]

"There is strong support from business groups who say there is a crisis" in the availability and pricing of insurance, said Randy Cox, the chief lobbyist in West Virginia for the Washington, D.C.-based American Insurance Association.

The legal system in West Virginia, according to Mr. Cox, makes it "one of several places in the country where plaintiffs come to seek ?jackpot justice' or play the ?lawsuit lottery.' This has got to stop. It is actually costing West Virginians hard-earned tax dollars because the courts are over-burdened with all these cases."

The AIA noted findings by the Washington-based, insurer-supported American Tort Reform Association, which AIA said "highlights and reinforces the urgent need for significant civil justice reforms in the state, according to the American Insurance Association."

ATRA, in its latest poll of attorneys, identified West Virginia as the "only statewide judicial hellhole in our survey."

A court in the state's Kanawha County last year consolidated 8,000 asbestos claims against 250 defendants for one mass trial.

Mr. Cox, an attorney with Spilman, Thomas and Battle of Charleston, W. Va., said the state allows third-party bad faith lawsuits.

He also said the state has rules that makes it difficult to non-renew any auto insurance customer after two and four years. He said a 10-year effort on behalf of legislation to create a state insurance fraud unit has been unsuccessful.

This year, he said, local prosecutors unwilling to share any of their powers, blocked an effort to create a dedicated insurance fraud prosecutor.

However, Mr. Cox and the AIA noted that the West Virginia legislature had passed legislation to reform medical liability and to improve the state's venue law setting limits on non-residents rights to bring cases in the state.

As they did for medical, in a move to improve the situation for property-casualty insurance for businesses, Mr. Cox said "We're hoping the legislature will take a similar approach" for all types of liability.

Mr. Cox said the legislative effort on behalf of judicial reforms will begin on Jan. 14, 2004 when the legislature begins its annual 60-day session and bills are introduced.

AIA said its goals, along with the business community, are to persuade lawmakers to expand reforms that will help end "the kind of lawsuit abuse that harms companies and deters economic growth.

"AIA is promoting a 2004 legislative agenda that seeks to address the fairness of the legal system and the litigation environment in West Virginia?which are currently major barriers to corporate investment in the state, and ultimately impact the availability and affordability of insurance in this state," said Mr. Cox.

He said that, in discussions with both consumer and business groups, there has been concern voiced about the problems the current insurance market has. While reform action will be difficult, there is support from the West Virginia State Chamber of Commerce and the Business Industrial Council, he said.

"Business groups are saying there is a crisis," he said.