Civil Justice in Washington State
Posted on 04 September 2009
“Representative government and trial by jury are the heart and lungs of liberty. Without them we have no other fortification against being ridden like horses, fleeced like sheep, worked like cattle, and fed and clothed like swine and hounds.” —John Adams, 1774
Our nation’s forefathers created the civil justice system as the foundation for a fair and just society. The civil justice system guarantees a fair and independent judiciary, and the right of any citizen to seek justice by a jury of their peers. Members of the Washington State Association for Justice guard this right when they represent deserving individuals who have been harmed by the negligence of others, and together they seek justice. Often, powerful interests that dominate our political processes demand that state legislatures and Congress restrict citizens access to our courts. WSAJ wants to make sure you are informed with the truth about the civil justice system in our state. Below are some common misconceptions about the civil justice system, tort reform and lawsuits.
Myth: The number of lawsuits filed is skyrocketing.
Not true. In fact, the numbers are dropping dramatically. According to the Justice Department, the number
of federal tort (personal injury) cases resolved in U.S. District Courts fell by 79 percent between 1985
and 2003. In 1985, 3,600 tort trials were decided by a judge or jury in U.S. District Courts. By 2003, that
number had dropped to less than 800.
Tort trials in states have decreased overall. These statistics were compiled as part of the Justice Department’s survey of state civil justice systems in the nation’s largest 75 counties. Among these counties, the number of tort trials decreased 50 percent between 1992 and 2005.
Justice Department statistics also look specifically at King County, which reported a decrease in the number
of jury trials (down 10 percent between 1992 and 2005) and jury trial awards (decreased from $45,069 in
1992 to $29,000 in 2005).
Myth: My insurance rates are skyrocketing because of lawsuits.
Your insurance premiums may be going up, but it has nothing to do with lawsuits. Look no further than the
insurance industry’s annual profit reporting. In 2007, insurance companies reported a near-record profit of
$61.9 billion. In comparison, the insurance industry’s 2004 profit was $38.7 billion, which broke all previous
records. Their profits continue to rise, and unfortunately, your premiums are following suit.
The insurance industry has also made the argument that awards and damages should be limited; however,
have later admitted that caps will not lower premiums. For example, American Insurance Association spokesman
Dennis Kelly told the Chicago Tribune in 2005 that, “We have not promised price reductions with tort reform.”
In Washington State, voters’ approval of the Insurance Fair Conduct Act (IFCA) in November 2007 is helping
consumers avoid the hardball tactics employed by the insurance industry. Since IFCA went into effect in
December 2007, the Office of the Insurance Commissioner has received approximately 900 ‘notice of complaint’
letters about insurance companies. According to a survey of our member attorneys, about 99 percent of those complaints were able to be resolved without filing a lawsuit. Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has said publicly that claims that IFCA would raise insurance rates and create more lawsuits do not appear to have come true.
Myth: Health care costs are rising and doctors are unable to practice due to litigation.
Health care costs are rising; however, medical malpractice litigation has nothing to do with it. According to
the Congressional Budget Office, medical malpractice amounted to less than 2 percent of overall health care
spending. The Government Accountability Office also found that malpractice cases have not widely affected
access to health care. In Washington State — like other states that have refused to pass caps on medical
malpractice damages — the number of doctors is increasing. According to the American Medical Association,
the overall number of physicians in Washington is up 28 percent since 1998, while our overall population has increased by only 13 percent.
Myth: Legal reform is needed because lawsuits hurt small businesses.
Wrong. Multiple surveys have shown that lawsuits are not a concern for small business owners. A survey
from the National Association of Manufacturers suggests that “lawsuit abuse” ranks at the bottom of concerns
for manufacturers. A 2008 survey from National Federation of Independent Business had similar
results, with “costs and frequency of lawsuits / threatened suits” ranking 65th on a list of small business
owners’ worries. In reality, only big corporations and their front groups want to destroy the legal system so they can’t be held accountable for negligence and misconduct. Drug, oil, and insurance companies have tried to hide behind small business owners to accomplish this; however, these surveys reveal their true intentions.
Myth: Lawsuits cost taxpayers X hundreds of dollars each year.
Several so-called “independent” think tanks or organizations have devised the notion that American families
pay a yearly “tort tax,” or that the cost of litigation is passed on to taxpayers. These organizations, funded
by oil, drug, tobacco, and insurance companies, produce studies that are a prime example of junk science.
There is no methodology or academic basis for their results. Trying to pass off these organizations and
their studies as legitimate is yet another scheme by corporations to avoid accountability in the courtroom
and stack the deck against every day Americans. Towers Perrin’s “tort cost” study has also been widely
rejected. Congressional Quarterly did a study of the “tort tax” figure and found: “Nearly all the assertions
about the growing cost of the tort system are based on the figures from just one actuarial and management
consulting firm, Towers-Perrin, that works for the insurance industry, which has a stake in limiting lawsuits.
… The company’s estimates of tort costs include the insurance industry’s administrative expenses and payments
on claims that never involve courts or lawyers, such as auto collisions.”
The bigger cost to American families is the damage done by aggressive lobbying to eliminate accountability and oversight of the banking, mortgage and insurance industries that led to our current financial crisis. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its affiliate, the Institute for Legal Reform, sought to destroy any check on corporate accountability under the guise of “tort reform” for Enron, Exxon, AIG, and a host of other negligent corporations. It tried to protect reckless financial institutions that committed subprime fraud, and received over $20 million from AIG to fight for deregulation and strip post-Enron reforms. The U.S. Chamber’s lobbying has largely focused on Washington, D.C. but recently came to Washington State via a media campaign to convince citizens that lawsuits hurt our state. WSAJ recommends that citizens be wary of organizations like the U.S. Chamber and Institute for Legal Reform that are funded by corporations notorious for their negligence and misconduct, and that advocate eliminating accountability for their actions.
Washington State Association for Justice 2009
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