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Voters Agree That Lawsuit Abuse Destroys Jobs

The Flash Report published a commentary from CALA Statewide Advisory Board member Travis Hausauer about the voter survey CALA released on August 23. Here is what he said:

"Lawsuit abuse can take many forms. Sometimes it is someone clearly just looking for a quick payday, or maybe someone has been injured and deserves compensation, but exaggerates the injury to receive far more than the real damage warrants.

Small businesses like mine often face “gotcha lawsuits” in which people go digging for any type of error or non-compliance issue and then file lawsuits or shake down a business for a settlement even though no one’s been hurt. For a small business, a single lawsuit can mean the difference between keeping the doors open and providing jobs for the community or closing the business, depriving the community of jobs and services and further starving our governments of tax revenue.

What’s worse is that our Legislature seems to create new reasons for suing every day through laws that are poorly drafted, short-sighted or written to reward the personal injury attorneys who fund their political campaigns."

To read the entire commentary, click here.

Los Angeles Business Journal: Class Action Needed on Lawsuits Targeting Schools

An op-ed by David Houston, Chairman of California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, was featured in the Los Angeles Business Journal. He said:

"A recent report by my group, California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, titled “Lessons in Lawsuits: The Impact of Litigation on California Schools,” found that Los Angeles Unified School District over the last three years spent almost $45 million in litigation costs. Last year alone, L.A. Unified’s litigation costs exceeded $13 million – an amount that could have paid the salaries of more than 200 teachers. Among 12 state school districts, litigation costs over three fiscal years exceeded $98.7 million, or enough funding to have provided 246,762 desktop computer packages.

"Litigation costs are not measured in dollars alone, but also in lost quality and efficiency. Studies have shown that our teachers are increasingly afraid to teach, our administrators afraid to do their jobs, and many education policies and practices are altered because of the threat of litigation."

To read the entire article click here.

Orange Juice Blog: California Champions Against Lawsuit Abuse Event

Orange Juice blog featured the 12th annual Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse luncheon showcasing three champions against lawsuit abuse - Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, Assemblyman Curt Hagman and Orange County Register Columnist Jan Norman, who continuouly writes about the negative impact of unwarranted lawsuits on small business.

To see the entire invite and register for the October 6th luncheon at Prego Restauant in Irvine click here.

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Lawsuit Will Hurt City

Tom Scott, Executive Director for California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, had a letter-to-the-editor printed in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat raising concerns about recent litigation settlements and the cost to the City of Petaluma.

In his letter, he said:

"If the litigants are genuinely concerned with the community’s interest, they should donate the entire award to a worthy cause such as the annual Veterans Day Parade, or Fourth of July celebration that is continually threatened by cuts to the city’s budget. They should not use it to finance their next lawsuit."

Click here to read his comments.