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Senate leader backs tort reform at rally

But he repeats his more reserved tone afterward, saying "the devil is in the detail."

By JONI JAMES
Published March 16, 2005

TALLAHASSEE - Senate President Tom Lee, waving his credentials as a businessman and sounding far more committed than he has in recent months, told a capital rally Tuesday that improving the litigation climate for Florida businesses was a "front-burner issue" for himself and the state Senate.

"It's no coincidence that we have a small businessman chairing our Judiciary Committee in the Florida Senate and not a lawyer," the Brandon Republican and home builder said, referring to Republican Sen. Daniel Webster, owner of a Winter Garden air conditioning and repair service and a longtime supporter of civil litigation changes.

"Since I have been in the Legislature, the Judiciary Committee in the Florida Senate has been a graveyard for litigation reform and a variety of other reform. We want to have an open and fair hearing of these issues in the Florida Senate," Lee said to resounding applause.

Gov. Jeb Bush, who has said he likes "everything" on a list of broad civil litigation changes sought by the state's powerful business interests, praised Lee's remarks. Both men, along with House Speaker Allen Bense, R-Panama City, called it a top priority to create a more stable litigation climate for business.

But the impact of the public show, organized by Florida Civil Justice Reform Institute, backed by retailers, Realtors, nursing homes, automobile dealers, doctors and bankers, is far from clear.

Offstage immediately after the rally, Lee's responses to reporters' questions reiterated some of the same reservations he stated repeatedly about changes to Florida's civil law statutes.

Lee has specifically questioned the wisdom of granting blanket immunity for any business against liability for crimes on its property or the maintenance of street lights. To provide such protection, as is sought by the business lobby, would invite negligent behavior by some businesses, he said.

Legislative proposals include a shield for businesses from paying a majority of a verdict when a jury assigns them the minority of the blame; dramatic new limits on class-action lawsuits; stricter requirements for expert witnesses; changes to product liability laws; new protections for insurance companies from third-party lawsuits; and immunity for law enforcement officers from accidents caused in the pursuit of a suspect.

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. Trial lawyers have said such a prohibition would take away citizens' rights and might make it hard to find a lawyer.

"The devil is in the detail of any piece of legislation," Lee said. "The challenge is ... it's very hard to build a set of colanders that just stops frivolous litigation. In building that colander, you stop a lot of meritorious claims where people need access to the litigation system."

The event, sponsored by the state's powerful business lobbying groups, drew roughly 200 business-suited supporters. But it also drew a small band of trial lawyers and consumer advocates who came with written counterarguments.

"Who is going to benefit from this? Big insurance and multistate corporations," said Tom Edwards, a Jacksonville lawyer on the executive board of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers.

Bush, Lee and others on the podium remarked on Florida's 42nd place in a ranking of state legal systems sponsored by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. But the trial lawyers countered that only corporate lawyers participated in the survey, which would heavily skew the results toward big-business interests.

Plus they noted another survey by Chief Executive Magazine in which CEOs ranked Florida the third best state in the nation to do business.

"That flies in the face of any corporate lawyers' claims that we are 42nd in terms of legal system," said Tampa lawyer Weldon "Web" Brennan, president-elect of the academy.

"Those two things go hand in hand."

[Last modified March 16, 2005, 01:31:14]