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CALA Launches “I Am Lawsuit Abuse” Viral Video Campaign

Sacramento Area dentists draw attention to costs associated with lawsuits

(Sacramento, Calif.) – Two California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse members were featured in a video released today as part of a national campaign to highlight the impact of frivolous lawsuits on communities and small businesses across the country.

Sickoflawsuits.org, a national project of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, has launched a viral video campaign to highlight the impact of frivolous lawsuits on communities and small businesses across the country.  The “I Am Lawsuit Abuse” campaign features real victims of lawsuit abuse, who share personal stories about how abusive personal injury lawyer tactics have wreaked havoc on their lives.

Jeff and Shaina DiMariano, a Sacramento-area father and daughter dentist team, discussed the extra steps they have to take with their patients just to ensure protection from false claims of malpractice. Both father and daughter talk about the impacts the threat of liability has on their jobs and the increased costs associated with it.

“The sad fact is, no matter how much effort goes into preventing liability, there is always a chance of being hit with an abusive lawsuit,” said Marko Mlikotin, Northern California regional director of California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse. “The abuse of our courts continues to be a key driver of the problems plaguing our economy and health care system. Too often, lawsuit abuse puts small companies out of business and raises health care costs for every day citizens.”

Small businesses, which are responsible for 75 percent of new jobs in the United States, are often the hardest hit by the threat of a frivolous lawsuit. The average small business spends over $17,000 per year due to the out-of-control legal system. Even when lawsuits are baseless, the cost to fight them typically costs a small business owner over $5,000.

“We certainly feel patients should be protected from malpractice,” said Shaina DiMariano. “But we need protection too, so that we can perform our jobs to the best of our abilities.”

Mlikotin commended the DiMarianos for taking action to voice concerns about the impact of lawsuit abuse on small businesses. “Jeff and Shaina DeMariano are not alone. Personal injury lawyers across the nation continue to threaten small businesses with abusive lawsuits,” he said.

The family dental practice has offices in Sacramento and Folsom.

California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) is a nonpartisan, grass-roots organization dedicated to educating the public about the negative effects of lawsuit abuse and challenging those who abuse our legal system for personal gain.

Watch the video here.

CALA Encourages People Serve Their Country By Serving on a Jury

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) kicked off Juror Appreciation Week (JAW) today with a plea to Californians to serve on a jury when called. For more than a decade, CALA has observed JAW as a way to educate the public on the importance of jury service as both a right and a responsibility.

JAW, observed annually during the second full week of May, was established by an Assembly resolution in 1998 to show gratitude to those who participate in jury service, something that should not be overlooked when discussing the state’s pressing needs.

“Jury service is one of our highest civic duties,” said CALA spokesperson Lorie Zapf. “It is also the best weapon Californians have in the fight against the lawsuit abuse. Abusive lawsuits force our businesses to close, threaten our economy, jeopardize our access to health care, and raise our cost of living.”

In California, jury duty is even easier than in many other parts of the country. The state has a

one-day or one-trial system, whereby prospective jurors need appear for only one day unless they are selected for a trial. In many instances, those summoned may only need to make a call visit a Web site to determine if they must appear at court. If they are not assigned to a jury on their first day of service, the obligation is satisfied for a year. If selected for a jury, service in that trial satisfies the juror’s obligation for at least one year.

“The one-day or one-trial system really makes fulfilling your civic duty much more convenient,” said Zapf. “For most of us that means just taking one day out of our busy lives to ensure that our justice system functions as it was intended.”

CALA also encourages employers to make a dedicated effort to support their employees’ service when called.  Many potential jurors cite job conflicts as the reason they’re unable to report.

“Jury service is one of the cornerstones of democracy, and it is so easy to serve,” said Zapf.  “When people choose to make excuses instead of serve, they’re surrendering the legal system to those who abuse it, contributing to the very problems that consistently land California at the bottom when ranking state’s litigation climates.”

CALA Releases Report on Litigation Costs to San Diego Taxpayers

Litigation costs could have funded ambulances, clean air school buses or transportation projects

(San Diego, CA) – In the past two years, taxpayers in San Diego have spent more than $27 million on lawsuit settlements and awards and outside counsel in a bonanza for personal injury lawyers who seem to be increasingly viewing taxpayers as their next big meal ticket. The result is fewer dollars for needs like first responders, law enforcement, parks and libraries. The findings were issued today in a report by California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse.

“When local governments are the subject of frivolous lawsuits, it is the taxpayers who pay,” said Lorie Zapf, president of San Diego Citizens Against Lawsuits Abuse.

“The tax that San Diegans are paying to fund litigation against the city and county is enormous,” said Zapf. “These funds could be going to much more important things, such as sheriffs, police officers and firefighters. Instead, personal injury lawyers are lining their pockets with our money.”

According to recent budget documents, the amount San Diego taxpayers spent on litigation costs could have funded:

• The replacement of 84 pre-1987 diesel school buses with buses using natural gas or clean diesel, at a cost of $107,500 per bus;
• Nearly half of the cost of the new North County Animal Shelter;
• Almost half of the $3.4 million spent on the Mission Road Improvements Projects;
• The addition of two ambulances to the county service area; or
• Repaving over 46 miles of streets with asphalt.

The information compiled in the report came from public information requests of the localities.

“Citizens of the San Diego area deserve to know where their tax dollars are going,” Zapf said. “That’s why San Diego CALA is calling for greater disclosure, more public oversight and adoption of aggressive risk management procedures to protect our local government coffers from the greedy hands of personal injury lawyers.”

The full report is available here.

CALA Releases Report on Litigation Costs to Sacramento Taxpayers

Litigation costs could have funded sheriffs, police officers, firefighters

(Sacramento, CA) – In the past two years, taxpayers in Sacramento have spent nearly $20 million on lawsuit settlements and awards and outside counsel in a bonanza for personal injury lawyers who seem to be increasingly viewing taxpayers as their next big meal ticket. The result is fewer dollars for needs like first responders, law enforcement, parks and libraries. The findings were issued today in a report by California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse.

“When local governments are the subject of frivolous lawsuits, it is the taxpayers who pay,” said Diann Rogers, executive director of Central California Citizens Against Lawsuits Abuse. 

“The tax that Sacramentans are paying to fund litigation against the city and county is enormous,” said Rogers. “These funds could be going to much more important things, such as sheriffs, police officers and firefighters. Instead, personal injury lawyers are lining their pockets with our money.”

According to recent budget documents, the amount Sacramento taxpayers spent on litigation costs could have funded:

• More than triple the $1.7 million spent to add positions to staff an interim prisoner housing facility at Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center;
• Installation of in-car cameras in Sacramento County squad cars to increase officer safety and improve community understanding of law enforcement activities six times over;
• Twenty-three firefighters at an average annual cost of $115,820; or
• More than 13 sworn police officers, at an average annual cost of $113,500 per officer.

The information compiled in the report came from public information requests of the localities.

“Citizens of the Sacramento area deserve to know where their tax dollars are going,” Rogers said. “That’s why Central California CALA is calling for greater disclosure, more public oversight and adoption of aggressive risk management procedures to protect our local government coffers from the greedy hands of personal injury lawyers.”

To that end, a handful of government officials throughout the area have taken note of the waste that frivolous lawsuits cause. 

“We commend Sacramento City Attorney Eileen Teichert for her support of policies to reduce the effect that lawsuit abuse has on our city budget,” Rogers said.

The full report is available here.

CALA Releases Report on Litigation Costs to Orange County Taxpayers

Litigation costs could have funded psychiatric care, libraries, first responders

(City, CA) – In the past two years, taxpayers in Orange County have spent more than $20 million on lawsuit settlements and awards and outside counsel in a bonanza for personal injury lawyers who seem to be increasingly viewing taxpayers as their next big meal ticket. The result is fewer dollars for needs like first responders, law enforcement, parks and libraries. The findings were issued today in a report by California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse.

“When local governments are the subject of frivolous lawsuits, it is the taxpayers who pay,” said Maloney, executive director of Orange County Citizens Against Lawsuits Abuse.

“The tax that Orange County citizens are paying to fund litigation against county is enormous,” said Maloney. “These funds could be going to much more important things, such as sheriffs and emergency personnel. Instead, personal injury lawyers are lining their pockets with our money.”

According to recent budget documents, the amount spent on litigation costs for Orange County could have funded:

• Approximately 33 acute psychiatric beds at an average annual cost of $250,000 per bed, moving patients in need of assessment and treatment out of Orange County emergency rooms and into psychiatric care;
• More than two-and-a-half times the cost to the county to construct the brand new Wheeler Branch Library; or
• 196 Emergency Management employees who lead, promote, facilitate and support Orange County and operational area efforts to mitigate, prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters, at an average cost of $61,075 per employee in 2006.

The information compiled in the report came from public information requests of the localities.

“Citizens of Orange County deserve to know where their tax dollars are going,” said Maloney. “That’s why OC CALA is calling for greater disclosure, more public oversight and adoption of aggressive risk management procedures to protect our local government coffers from the greedy hands of personal injury lawyers.”

The full report is available here.

Study Shows Lawsuit Abuse Has Overwhelmingly Negative Impact on California Economy

Three quarters of small business owners say fear of a lawsuit alone could force them to close their doors

(Sacramento, CA) – Approximately 98 percent of small business owners believe that lawsuits filed against businesses have hurt California’s economy and have had a negative impact on the state’s business climate, according to a survey released today by California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA).

More than 800 members of the National Federation of Independent Business/California (NFIB) responded to the survey and clearly believe that lawsuit abuse is harmful to their business and raises prices across the state.

“Small businesses are the heart of California’s economy,” said John Kabateck, Executive Director of NFIB/California. “This survey overwhelmingly demonstrates that lawsuit abuse is a real threat to our state’s small business community and California’s economic health.”

Ninety-seven percent of the survey respondents said that lawsuit abuse was a significant or major problem for California’s business climate, with nearly 60 percent of those responding they had been threatened with a lawsuit over the past five years. Even if they have not been personally sued, nearly three-fourths of small business owners say the threat of lawsuits could lead them to consider closing their doors.

Just the threat of a lawsuit can have disastrous consequences, according to the survey:

• Nearly 94 percent of businesses said the fear of lawsuits could force them to raise their costs.
• Nearly 75 percent said it could force them to restrict, reduce or change products and services offered to customers.
• Nearly 78 percent said it could cause them to reconsider expansion of the business.
• More than 67 percent said it could require them to lay off employees.

“Our small business owners have enough to worry about without constantly having to fear being sued,” said David Houston, CALA Chairman. “The lawsuit-happy mentality in California is bad for businesses, bad for employment, and bad for California’s economy.”

Almost all small business owners surveyed believe that aggressive personal injury lawyer advertisements encourage people to sue even if they have not been injured (98%) and that the motivation for filing lawsuits is to win big money (92.3%).

Respondents were dissatisfied with California’s legal climate as well, with nearly 98 percent believing that California should pass new laws to protect businesses from frivolous or unfair lawsuits. In addition, nearly 95 percent felt that the law currently favors those who sue.

“The fact is that lawsuit abuse is an issue that affects all Californians,” says Houston. “When our system is used for greed instead of fairness, we all pay, and we all lose.”

The full report is available here.