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| Date: | April 28, 2011 | | Contact Name: | Peter D. Winiecki | | Contact Phone: | 651-297-8077 | | Contact Email: | peter.winiecki@senate.mn | | For Immediate Release | |
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| SENATOR JULIANNE ORTMAN PUSHES FOR OVERDUE LAWSUIT REFORM Reforms will cut business expenses, increase productivity and expand job opportunities |
(St. Paul) -- Senator Julianne Ortman (R-Chanhassen) was joined by members of Minnesotans for Lawsuit Reform to promote a package of bills designed to reform Minnesota’s legal system, save taxpayers money, and encourage economic development. The bills are scheduled to be heard later today during the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting at 1:00 PM in room 15 of the State Capitol.
“Minnesotans deserve swift justice, and a court system that encourages early and fair resolution of legal disputes,” said Senator Ortman. “These bills are designed to reform our civil justice system to provide less expensive litigation, and to eliminate incentives for delay that add significant costs for all litigants, both plaintiffs and defendants. These simple reforms will streamline our processes, save costs in our courts, and save Minnesotans the opportunity costs of participating in lengthy and expensive lawsuits.”
Research done by the Perryman Group in Texas showed how that state’s reforms of its lawsuit system a few years ago generated a half-million new jobs that led to billions of dollars in new economic activity, as businesses grew knowing they had new protections against abusive lawsuits.
Another report done by the Pacific Research Institute pointed out that unchecked lawsuit abuse is costing consumers billions of dollars nationwide in higher prices for consumer goods, higher insurance premiums, lost wages and lost productivity. The PRI’s report quantifies how much lawsuit reform can mean to a state’s economy as businesses look to locate and grow in states with a positive lawsuit reform environment.
Unfortunately, PRI’s state specific rankings show Minnesota is one of the worst states in the country for its lawsuit system’s ‘tort inputs’ or the ability for enterprising personal injury attorneys to use the system to maintain frivolous and abusive lawsuits.
Ortman, an accomplished lawyer in private practice, is set to lead the charge against some of the most unfair aspects of Minnesota’s legal system.
The bills that Senator Ortman will present to the Senate Judiciary Committee today are:
• Senate File 149 would enact reforms for class action lawsuits, including the authorizing an appeal of right for the certification of a class action, before expensive discovery costs are incurred.
• Senate File 373 would shorten Minnesota’s general statute of limitations from six years (currently the longest in the country) to four years.
• Senate File 530 would lower the prejudgment interest rate on awards and judgments from the current (and unreasonable) 10% flat rate back to a market driven rate based on a calculation derived from government bonds (with a floor of 4%). Two years ago, the Legislature increased the rate up to 10%, but the next year dropped it back to the 4% floor for government units that were sued.
• Senate File 506 increases the conciliation court jurisdictional limit from $7500 to $15,000 and raises the cap for consumer credit claims from $4000 to $7500. (This bill has already passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and is awaiting a hearing in the Finance Committee)
“These bills will restore a balanced approach for our courts, while still providing aggrieved parties ample opportunity to have their day in court,” said Senator Ortman. “But we need to quickly help rein in the costs of delay.”
The bills are supported by a wide cross section of the business community and by individual consumers and businesses that are represented by Minnesotans for Lawsuit Reform.
Minnesotans for Lawsuit Reform is made up of 45 regional Chambers of Commerce and Trade Associations, which together represent more than 58,000 employers, and almost 100 other individual businesses and consumers.
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