The Governor and Louisiana Lawyers Plot an Energy Shakedown

Their demand: Fork over billions to restore the eroding coastline or brave a drawn-out legal battle.

By Allysia Finley in the Wall Street Journal

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards was elected in 2015 with substantial support from trial lawyers, and he’s now repaying them in kind. The former minority leader of the state’s House of Representatives is effectively extorting oil and gas companies to backfill the budget while engineering what could be a handsome payday for his friends at a politically connected law firm. Read more...

Louisiana earns top “judicial hellhole” ranking again

BATON ROUGE, LA (Dec. 5, 2017)— Louisiana is still one of the nation’s worst Judicial Hellholes®, according to a new report released today by the American Tort Reform Foundation (ATRF). The state has been singled out for unbalanced courts and excessive litigation eight years in a row and ranked as the nation’s eighth-worst Judicial Hellhole this year.

In explaining the ranking, ATRF’s 2017-2018 Judicial Hellholes report cited Gov. John Bel Edwards’ ongoing involvement in dozens of trial-lawyer generated lawsuits against energy companies over production activities conducted decades ago.

“Under his leadership, the state has joined forces with six local parishes to file more than 40 lawsuits targeting major providers of oil and gas jobs in Louisiana,” the report noted. “This summer, the governor added even more fuel to the hellholes fire when he hired one of his top political fundraisers to represent his office and the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources in an anticipated wave of new lawsuits, promising, ‘We’re going to be active litigants going forward.’”

“The Edwards administration has argued the suits are necessary to force energy companies to restore wetlands they allegedly damaged with exploration and production operations dating back to the 1930s, but the governor’s ongoing effort to enlist wealthy political supporters to run and possibly reap enormous legal fees from the litigation suggests other powerful motives may be at play,” the report concludes.

According to the report, other pressing issues that contribute to the state’s longstanding reputation as one of the worst places in the country to be sued include problematic venue laws that allow plaintiffs’ attorneys to shop around for favorable judges, a lack of transparency in asbestos litigation and trust claims, skyrocketing disability-access lawsuits targeting small businesses and broad misuse of consumer protection laws.

“There are many troubling aspects of Louisiana’s legal system that contribute to the perception that it is difficult, if not impossible, for some to get a fair shake in our courts,” said Melissa Landry, executive director of Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch (LLAW). “We cannot continue to ignore these issues or expect that they will somehow fix themselves. Until we have a governor and a strong majority of state lawmakers that are willing to enact meaningful reforms, we will continue to be pegged as one of the nation’s worst judicial hellholes.”

The report also criticizes Louisiana’s unique jury trial threshold system, which dictates that in civil cases, any claim under $50,000 must be decided by a judge. At $50,000, Louisiana’s jury trial threshold is roughly more than 28 times the national average.

“Louisiana’s unusually high threshold clearly illustrates that our laws governing venue and access to jury trials are far outside the mainstream of what most other states are doing,” said Coalition of Common Sense Director Jim Harris. “This not only encourages unnecessary and sometimes meritless litigation, but it also increases the cost of everyday goods and services—especially when it comes to our car insurance rates. Legislative reforms to bring the jury trial threshold back into alignment are long overdue.”

The full text of ATRF’s Judicial Hellholes® report can be viewed at http://www.judicialhellholes.org.

American Tort Reform Association– ATRA is the only national organization dedicated exclusively to tort and liability reform through public education and the enactment of legislation. Its members include nonprofit organizations and small and large companies, as well as trade, business and professional associations from the state and national level. www.atra.org

Coalition for Common Sense- Formed in 2008, CCS is comprised of professional associations, companies, and individuals committed to passing legislation in Louisiana that ensures a fair legal climate for both truly harmed individuals and small and large businesses operating in the state. www.coalitionforcommonsense.com

Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch– LLAW is a high-impact watchdog group with more than 10,000 supporters across the state dedicated to fixing Louisiana’s broken legal system through transparency, accountability and lawsuit reform. www.llaw.org.

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CONTACT

ATRA

Darren McKinney

(202) 682-0084

dmckinney@atra.org

CCS

Jim Harris

(225) 405-7330

jharris@hdaissues.com

LLAW

Melissa Landry

(504) 458-5180

mlandry@llaw.org

Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week—A Time to Reflect on Where We Are and Where We Need to Go

Every October, Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch joins legal reform groups from across the country to promote a national dialogue about the devastating impact frivolous lawsuits have on our courts and our economy. The goal is to encourage citizens and lawmakers to take action to reform our legal system.

This year, “Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week” comes at a critical time. Louisiana’s lawsuit climate has hit rock bottom. Due to a perceived lack of fairness, abusive and excessive litigation and ongoing concerns about judicial integrity, our state courts are now nationally known as the worst place in the country to be sued.

According to the latest 2017 Lawsuit Climate Survey: Ranking the States, a biennial assessment of state liability systems conducted by Harris Interactive and released by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), Louisiana ranks 50th out of 50 states.

Unfortunately, the survey results did not come as a surprise. Litigation is a growing industry in Louisiana. From problematic venue laws, to widespread judicial misconduct, a lack of transparency in asbestos litigation and trust claims, broad misuse of consumer protection laws, and the highest jury trial threshold in the nation—there are many troubling aspects of our legal system that contribute to the perception that it is difficult, if not impossible, for some to get a fair shake in our courts.

Louisiana ranked dead last in seven of the 10 categories in the survey, including for its judges’ competence and impartiality, the fairness of its juries, and the quality of its appeals process.

New Orleans/Orleans Parish also ranked as the fourth worst lawsuit jurisdiction in the nation.

“Considering that over 70% of the world’s lawyers live and practice in the United States, this unfortunate reputation may essentially make us one of the most hostile legal climates in the world in terms of investment and economic development,” said Louisiana Association of Business and Industry President Stephen Waguespack. “Considering we need every private sector job we can get these days, that can’t be good.”

Indeed, our current legal system is sucking the life out of Louisiana.

“The state’s long history of litigation abuse and the questionable integrity of its courts hurts everyone by holding back more robust job growth and investment,” said ILR President Lisa A. Rickard.

Louisiana has languished near the bottom of the legal climate rankings since ILR and Harris began conducting the survey nearly a decade ago.

Year after year, we lose jobs and major projects to other states. Our young people are leaving in droves. Our economy continues to suffer and yet, our leaders refuse to take common-sense steps that many other states have taken to improve their legal systems and create jobs.

Clearly, the status quo is not working. It is long past time to pass comprehensive legal reform in Louisiana.

For more information about Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch, visit us at www.LLAW.org.

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