A coalition of Louisiana business groups is urging state Senate leaders to break a legislative logjam that has kept a pair of tort-reform bills stalled in the Senate Judiciary A committee.
The coalition, which includes the Louisiana Association of Business & Industry, Louisiana Motor Transport Association, Louisiana Legal Reform Coalition and Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch, also expressed hope that Gov. Jeff Landry would sign another pair of tort-reform bills as they reach the end of the legislative-approval process.
Among the stalled bills is HB 24, sponsored by Rep. Michael Melerine (R-Shreveport), which would mandate plaintiffs in personal-injury cases to bear the full burden of proving that specific events caused suffering. In contrast, current law allows plaintiffs to rely on the “Housley presumption,” which was established by the state Supreme Court in the 1991 case Housley v. Cerise and presumes the accidents in question caused the injuries of previously healthy individuals.
The other bill now bottled up in the Senate committee is HB 336, sponsored by Rep. Emily Chenevert (R-Baton Rouge). That bill aims to increase civil litigation transparency by mandating that parties or lawyers reveal third-party litigation financing agreements to all litigants. Critics of such agreements argue that they could cause attorneys to act in ways that benefit the financiers rather than the plaintiffs.
“Both bills were deferred, preventing a vote by the full Senate even after receiving overwhelming bipartisan support in the House,” a coalition statement emailed to the Louisiana Record says. “We appeal to Senate leadership to allow these bills to be heard in Judiciary A so that the full body may potentially debate and vote on them.”
The coalition said two other bills would also bring positive reforms, though they have been amended in the wake of trial-attorney lobbying. HB 337, authored by Rep. Jack McFarland (R-Jonesboro), would alter a state law giving injured parties or survivors the right to file direct legal actions against insurance companies only.
“(The) proposed law amends the present law to provide that the injured person or, if deceased, persons listed in present law, have no right to file a survival or wrongful death claims as a direct action” unless certain conditions are met,” the Legislature’s analysis of the bill states.
The other bill, HB 423, which was also sponsored by Melerine, would clarify how medical expenses in civil lawsuits are calculated when juries determine damages awards. The legislation would put the calculation closer to the amount actually paid by the medical provider rather than the amount billed.
“While not the exact bills we wanted as amended, they will help bring about needed change,” the coalition said. “We ask Gov. Landry to sign both bills into law.”
Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple said HB 423 would help to establish transparency and balance in the legal climate.
“The bill, which is designed to reduce excessive litigation costs by ensuring that damages paid in a trial are limited to the amount the injured party actually paid in medical expenses, is one of several bills we need to pass this session to make an impact on our state's unaffordable auto insurance rates,” Temple said in a prepared statement.
All four of these bills are part of Temple’s legislative package designed to ease the state’s current insurance crisis and put downward pressure on rates paid by Louisiana families.
“I urge Gov. Landry to support the entire package of auto insurance reform bills …” he said.