Study Finds Public Support For Tort Reform
NU Online News Service, April 13, 9:06 a.m. EDT?A new report from the Insurance Research Council says that most Americans?while recognizing social benefits of the civil-justice system?nonetheless support efforts to reform the current personal-injury and class-action litigation structure.[@@]
The report from Malvern, Pa.-based IRC is based on two surveys conducted last year. The first survey, in June 2003, contacted 2,001 U.S. adults, while the second study?which focused more specifically on the topic of pain-and-suffering awards in personal-injury and class-action suits?interviewed 1,012 adults over the phone last December.
The Insurance Research Council is a nonprofit division of the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters and the Insurance Institute of America.
In these two surveys, IRC observed, most respondents showed strong support for litigation reform in general as well as for specific reform initiatives for personal-injury and class-actions?with some 78 percent agreeing that the class-action system's reform is warranted.
Class-action reform measures getting the biggest support among survey respondents included the following:
? Making it easier for class-action members to understand their rights, with 86 percent of respondents rating it as an "excellent" or "good" idea.
? Imposing limits on attorneys' fees, with 82 percent of those surveyed approving the idea as "excellent" or "good."
? Requiring sanctions against attorneys who file frivolous lawsuits?this idea garnered approvals from 73 percent of the survey respondents.
? Requiring that large, nationwide class-action cases are tried in federal courts rather than in state courts, with 53 percent rating it as an "excellent" or "good" idea.
Additionally, IRC noted, 64 percent of those surveyed agreed that states should implement some limits on pain-and-suffering awards in personal-injury lawsuits.
The IRC report also found that 62 percent of the respondents surveyed said juries for personal-injury cases should be given information about payments to plaintiffs from other sources, such as health insurance or workers' compensation. Also, 59 percent agreed that a judge should be allowed to cut awards in personal-injury suits by the amount of such collateral payments.
"This study shows that the public supports reforms such as clearer class-action settlement notices, limits to attorneys' fees and sanctions against frivolous lawsuits," said IRC's senior vice president Elizabeth Sprinkel. She also said more than half of respondents supported reforms to prevent venue-shopping by attorneys seeking a favorable outcome for their lawsuits.
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