CALA Executive Director Tom Scott's letter, "Start With Reform of Our Legal System," was published in the Vacaville Reporter. Here is what he said:

"Most elected officials claim to be supporters of small business; however, many of them continue to vote for burdensome regulations and laws that cripple small businesses ("Government in the Way: Rules stifle small-business expansion," July 12). Even our president has stated that small businesses are the No. 1 generator of jobs. Yet the state continues to pass laws and regulations that stifle growth in the small-business sector.

If elected officials are serious about job creation, they need to reform laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and our regulations concerning wage and hour violations, as Manuel Cosme suggests.

However, the California Legislature seems unwilling to do this, especially when it comes to legal reform. The personal injury lawyer lobby has contributed more than $33.5 million to political campaigns during the past decade. Perhaps that has something to do with it.

If we want our state to get moving again, we need to make some serious changes, and legal reform is one of them."

Click here to read the letter.

If you are in the Central California area, tune into KJWL or KYNO to hear our Central California Regional Director, Julie Griffiths. She's the voice behind public service announcements that will run on those two stations between July 11 and July 17.

David Houston, CALA Co-Chair's commentary "Lawsuit Happy Climate Needs Fix" was recently published in the Los Angeles Daily News. Here is what he had to say:

Vexatious litigants often target small businesses where the cost of a legal defense far exceeds the cost of a settlement. At least one judge has called such actions a "racket." These suits are generally based on technical violations where there is little evidence of any harm, and no one is hurt.

When there are no court challenges from defendants, vexatious plaintiffs are free to file dozens of cases every day without ever having to prove actual injuries or go before a court. Sadly, such settlements mean that many actual violations go uncorrected, allowing repeat vexatious litigants to go from one target to the next without ever being challenged and without actually improving anything except their own personal fortunes.

Current law allows a judge to label somebody a vexatious litigant if the person is representing himself. We must close this loophole to allow judges to designate vexatious litigants even if they are represented by an attorney. Then, they would have to ask the court for special permission before filing more lawsuits.

Legal reforms such as curbing vexatious litigants can be a spark that helps drive California's economic recovery forward. We need more jobs, not more lawsuits.

You can read the entire article by clicking here.

Tom Scott, Executive Director of California CALA, wrote a letter to the editor to the Sacramento Bee in which he calls for California to pay more attention to what its business leaders are saying about its business climate. Here is what he had to say:

"Anytime you see a CEO of a large company come forward and say there is something wrong with your state, people should listen. Andrew Puzder should be applauded for stepping up and making people realize that regulatory and legal reform are critical to California's future. If you have to spend $20 million fighting trial lawyers, that is $20 million that is not creating jobs and building a business.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry warned California two years ago that it had to tackle big issues like taxes, regulations, education and legal reform if it was going to be able to compete. Since then, we are batting 0 for 4."

Click here to see the letter at the Sacramento Bee website.

CALA supporter Robert Donin's letter to the editor in response to the "Wal-Mart sex-bias case splits high court" article was published in the LA Times. Here is what he had to say:

"Let's hope the Supreme Court says no to this obvious abuse of the legal system. As The Times noted in a previous article, 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Alex Kozinski in his dissenting comment said the workers of this supposed class action "have little in common but their sex and this lawsuit."

Click here to read the entire letter.

Orange County Register and Irvine World News Political Commentator Adam Probolsky noted that last week was Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week, and Irvine’s state Sen. Tom Harman received a special honor, the Champion of Against Lawsuit Abuse award from CALA. Here is what Adam had to say:

"I asked the senator about the issue. He said, "Stopping lawsuit abuse is essential to revitalizing our state’s economy and has been a goal of mine since I took office. Frivolous lawsuits drive businesses out of California and do little to make injured plaintiffs whole." Harman was a co-author of legislation that reformed the misuse of the Americans with Disabilities Act and makes it tougher for abusive litigants to file lawsuits on based on technical violations."