Florida Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse honored three state lawmakers for their efforts to protect residents from excessive and frivolous litigation.
On April 23, FLCALA Executive Director Tom Gaitens recognized Representative Toby Oberdorf, Senator Tom Leek and Senator Jay Collins with the Floridians Against Lawsuit Abuse Courageous Legislator Award for their heroic efforts this legislative session to protect Floridians and to keep Florida off the Judicial Hellholes list.
The press conference took place at the Florida State Capitol. Gaitens was joined by Senator Stan McClain, Florida NFIB Executive Director Bill Herrle, Small Business and Consumer Alliance Chairman Jim Kallinger, Florida Council for Safe Communities Chairman Maurice Langston and Floridians for Government Accountability Vice Chairman Jim Maxwell.
“Not too many years ago, Florida’s civil justice landscape was suffering heavily at the hands of the trial lobby and excessive and frivolous lawsuits,” Gaitens said. “But fortunately, through the hard work of our last legislatures and our governor, Florida was finally removed from the Judicial Hellhole list. We must not cede ground!
“It takes great courage to stand up against the strongest lobby in Tallahassee, but these lawmakers knew what was at stake and risked much on behalf of our great state this legislative session. We are delighted to recognize their hard work and dedication and present them with this meaningful award. We look forward to our continued partnership to ensure our civil justice landscape is fair, balanced, and working better for all Floridians.”
Gaitens said Florida was at the top of the American Tort Reform Association’s annual Judicial Hellholes list.
“But through great legislation starting in 2021, Florida quickly dropped from that list,” He said. “This is no time for us to pull back. In 2021, we worked to improve the civil justice system here in Florida. We became the beacon of other states looking to us for serious reforms to bring down the cost of torts.
The tort tax has a significant impact on all Floridians. It affects small businesses and citizens. The average family of four pays more than $5,000 in added costs and services due to litigation abuse.”
But, he said Floridians still want more.
“We’ve made such progress,” Gaitens said. “This is no time to cede ground. We need more time to make sure these pieces of legislation mature and truly impact us in the way they were intended.”
Gaitens said Collins was a leader in addressing third-party taxpayer litigation. That’s when an outside entity – sometimes a foreign government such as China – funds lawsuits. They have no financial stake in the case other than as a revenue source. Gaitens said Collins has helped identity that problem.
He said Leek was instrumental in help identify the problem of assignment of benefits, which is a legal agreement where a policyholder transfers their insurance policy's rights and benefits to a third party such as a contractor or provider to allow the third party to handle insurance claims and receive payments directly from the insurance company.
Gaitens also said Oberdorf was a champion and co-sponsor of key reform legislation in 2023.
FLCALA is a nonpartisan grassroots movement of citizens and businesses fighting against lawsuit abuse in Florida. The organization serves as a watchdog to challenge the misuse of our civil justice system, which has cost our state’s economy billions of dollars and led to numerous bankruptcies and shattered lives.
For more information, visit: https://cala.com/florida