Along with promises of more tax cuts, environmental restoration projects and infrastructure upgrades, Gov. Ron DeSantis in his State of the State address on Tuesday again called for the overhaul of a legal climate that he said is a drag on the Florida economy.
“While our economy is consistently outperforming the nation as a whole, Florida’s lawsuit-happy legal climate is still holding us back,” DeSantis said in his address in the House of Representatives in Tallahassee. “The legal system should be centered on achieving justice, not lining the pockets of lawyers.”
The governor signaled his support for more comprehensive tort reforms last month during a press conference with the House speaker and state Senate president. DeSantis repeated that message on Tuesday.
“Speaker Paul Renner is stepping up to deliver much-needed legal reform, and I thank him for helping Florida reach its full economic potential,” the governor said.
Mark Wilson, president of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, applauded the governor’s priorities, citing research by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) that the average family of four pays more than $5,000 annually because of lawsuit abuse and legal excesses in Florida.
““I can't remember a time … where we had the governor as the absolute out-front leader but at the same time we had the speaker of the House and Senate president all calling for significant (legal) reforms in Florida,” Wilson told the Florida Record.
House Bill 837, the comprehensive tort reform measure now under consideration in the Legislature, would repeal most one-way attorney fee provisions in insurance litigation, bar damages awards to plaintiffs who are mostly at fault for their own injuries and reduce attempts to inflate awards for medical damages.
The Florida Chamber and other groups have fought successfully for tort reforms over the past two decades, only to see those measures overturned by the state Supreme Court, according to Wilson. In the wake of DeSantis’ election in 2018, however, more than 60 new justices have been appointed, resulting in more court decisions upholding state laws.
“Florida has gone from a court system that everyone knew was unfair and one-sided to now in many ways the gold standard across the country,” Wilson said.
Most Republicans in the Legislature and a few Democrats will, at the end of the day, vote in favor of the lawsuit reform package, he added.
In his speech, DeSantis also doubled down on his legal efforts to ban “vaccine passports,” as well as his decisions to transport undocumented aliens to sanctuary jurisdictions in other states and to suspend former Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren.
“We have made it very clear to prosecutors who believe they can disregard the law, you will be held accountable,” the governor said.
After the speech during a press conference, DeSantis elaborated more on his thoughts on legal reform. Other legal reforms being addressed this session include bills about litigation against senior living and nursing facilities and insurance concerns, even including auto glass repair.
DeSantis told reporters he supports legal reform but is leaving it up to lawmakers.
"What I told Paul (Renner), the speaker, I said I'm for legal reform," the governor said. "You know, you guys be as ambitious as you can. Clearly, I'm for it. When you look at how our legal system is set up, it is designed in the State of Florida to invite litigation rather than invite settlement. And you see that.
"Part of the reason we've had problems with property insurance, which we've addressed and we're going to do more there. Part of the reason we have high auto insurance rates is because of the litigation climate. So, I think all those. But I'm not saying don't do this or don't do that. I'd like to see across-the-board legal reform."
DeSantis also said the devil is in the details regarding some legal reforms.
"I think it's just a question of how do you structure it," he told reporters. "And what you don't want is to structure it so that the incentive of an innocent defendant is to settle because it's more expensive to contest it than to go ahead and just pay some type of ransom.
"That's when you get into the problems."
The Florida Record is owned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform.