Last year's tort reforms notwithstanding, Louisiana is still sustaining billions in lost economic activity and wages, not to mention thousands of jobs, according to a recently released Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch (LLAW) report.
"These findings clearly show that civil justice reform must continue to be a priority in Louisiana," LLAW Executive Director Lana Venable told the Louisiana Record. "Frivolous lawsuits and exorbitant plaintiff awards impact all sectors of our economy -- especially the critical energy sector."
Working Louisianans are also feeling the need for more tort reform, she said.
"These job-killing lawsuits hurt Louisiana families and, in addition, economic opportunities are driven away while resulting costs are passed down to all Louisianans in the form of higher prices for goods and services," Venable said.
Venable's comments came shortly after LLAW released its "Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse: Tort Reform in Louisiana" report, an annual assessment that measures how excessive civil court costs, or "tort tax," drag on Louisiana’s economy.
The report is the work of Brooklyn-based economic research firm John Dunham & Associates, who was commissioned by Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse to conduct the analysis on impacts and potential benefits of tort reform in Louisiana.
The report found, yet again, that Louisiana continues to lose jobs and billions in revenue each year because of excessive civil court costs. Those annual losses are $3.9 billion in economic activity, 22,550 lost jobs and about $1.12 billion in lost wages.
"This translates to an annual hidden 'tort tax' of $451, currently being paid by every single Louisiana resident," a LLAW news release issued with the report said.
By contrast, additional tort reform would bring significant savings in the state.
"Were Louisiana to enact additional reforms, the resulting savings to residents and businesses would be an estimated $2.1 billion," the LLAW news release said.
LLAW's latest report follows the Civil Justice Reform Act of 2020, signed into law by Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) last summer. The benefits of that legislation, which has been called "tort reform lite," according to Thompson Coe, are not yet showing up in the economic data of LLAW's report.
"Though significant legal reforms were passed by the Louisiana Legislature last year, it will take time for these changes to take effect," Venable said.