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Bush pushes litigation reforms

But with the Senate's leader hesitant to change Florida tort law, passage of any of several bills already filed will be a struggle. A rally is planned for today.

By JONI JAMES
Published March 15, 2005

TALLAHASSEE - Hoping to invigorate efforts to rewrite Florida's civil litigation laws during this legislative session, Gov. Jeb Bush will join a capital rally today calling for sweeping changes, including significant new limits on class-action suits.

But in a departure for the two-term governor who usually crafts his own policy proposals, Bush said Monday he will announce broad support for more than a half-dozen bills filed in the state Legislature.

"I'm for all of them," Bush said. "I haven't met one I don't like yet."

Among the proposals Bush backs: Requiring a plaintiff's attorney in a class-action suit to be solely and personally liable for all of a defendant's costs should the attorney reject a settlement offer; and requiring class-action suits be filed in the county where the alleged event took place or where a defendant's principal place of business is located.

Current state law allows class-action suits to be filed wherever a company maintains an office, which some say has allowed plaintiff's lawyers to choose a venue most favorable to their case.

Bush also backs a proposal that would prohibit any plaintiff from agreeing to give his or her attorney more in fees than is allowed under a recently passed state Constitution amendment. Approved in November, Amendment 3 capped trial lawyer's fees at 30 percent of the first $250,000 of an award and 10 percent thereafter. Trial lawyers have said such a prohibition would take away citizens' rights and might make it hard to find a lawyer.

"This is the same governor during the 2002 election who said he was going to "whack the trial lawyers,' and this is the fulfillment of his promise to his big campaign interests," said Scott Carruthers, executive director of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers. "I think he's showing he's good at taking care of business but not good at taking care of consumers."

Bush's push during the second week of the Legislature's nine-week session comes shortly after a new coalition of Florida's biggest business interests launched the most aggressive campaign in at least six years for tort changes.

Florida Civil Justice Reform Institute, supported by the retailers, Realtors, nursing homes, automobile dealers, doctors and bankers, organized today's rally and financed a series of TV ads aimed at drumming up public support for tort changes.

Joining the effort today will be Florida Coalition for Legal Reform, backed by Associated Industries of Florida, which will distribute DVDs to each of the Legislature's 160 members outlining its proposal for reforming lawsuits.

The question remains, however, how much impact Bush and business lobbyists can have on a Legislature in which one leader already has expressed hesitancy to change Florida tort law. Though both Senate President Tom Lee and House Speaker Allan Bense are expected to take part in the rally today, as well as Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, most bills that Bush backs have yet to be assigned a hearing in a single legislative committee.

Bense, R-Panama City, has joined Bush in supporting tort change. But for months Lee, R-Brandon, has said his chamber will keep its tradition of being less than friendly to limiting lawsuits.

Just last week in his State of the State address, Bush called for repealing Florida's "joint-and-several" law, which can require businesses to pay a majority of a verdict when a jury assigns them the minority of the blame. Neither Bense nor Lee, however, gave him good odds of succeeding.

Bush also said Monday that he supports other tort change proposals: significant changes to premises and product liability laws; new protections for insurance companies from third-party lawsuits; immunity for utility companies and cities from liability for broken street lights; and immunity for law enforcement officers from accidents caused in the pursuit of a suspect.

--Joni James can be reached at 850 224-7263 or jjames@sptimes.com

[Last modified March 15, 2005, 01:07:17]