“Tort Hell” no More; Legal Reform or Bust

Yesterday, a read-worthy piece appeared in the Montgomery Advertiser. The piece commented on a recent column that questioned Alabama’s “Supreme Court judgments and suggesting verdicts based on whims rather than rule of law.”

The author just happens to be Lewis Fuller, chair of Alabama Voters Against Lawsuit Abuse. Fuller, a small business owner, states that he is encouraged as he started to see his state begin to emerge from the recession. Fuller writes, “We all know that judges are not supposed to decide cases on their personal feelings of the popularity of the outcome. That is judicial activism, where existing law is dismissed and replaced with a new loose interpretation.”

Fuller says that judicial activism helped make Alabama “tort hell” and low ranking on employers’ favorable locations to set up shop. His optimism for legal reform’s effect on the economy is for good reason:  “Legal reforms in Texas brought in 1,500 new doctors. Georgia and Florida reforms made worker comp costs drop dramatically.”

As Fuller says, “Alabama is a much better place thanks to the rule of law and legal reform, and more people have better jobs. And should Alabama’s laws be further improved during this legislative session, our economy will strengthen even more.”

Let’s hope the “tort hell” image soon becomes a more distant one as Alabama drives further toward the direction of more jobs and a stronger economy.