Pennsylvania court system must change to serve people

Last year, a coffee shop was sued over the amount of cream used in its café latte. The fact that someone would sue because of the lack of creamy goodness had many observers steamed. Our civil justice system was designed as a last resort for parties to settle disagreements. But do you think our courts should be clogged with lawsuits because someone is in a froth over the amount of cream used in a latte? Well neither does the Pennsylvania Coalition for Civil Justice Reform (PCCJR), a group recently formed to address imbalances in our state’s civil justice system.

Highly publicized lawsuits around the country like the latte example may raise eyebrows, but day-to-day court actions here in Pennsylvania harm job creators, doctors, and hospitals in ways that also hurt local citizens’ pocketbooks and patients’ access to health care.

There is great cause for concern about the Pennsylvania civil justice system. We’ve read news reports on scandal and resignations in our state Supreme Court, about the disbarring of a recent state attorney general and a pay-to-play type scheme of shunting state legal work to campaign contributors. On one court docket in Philadelphia, nearly half of the plaintiffs are out-of-state “litigation tourists.”

Recently, the American Tort Reform Association put Pennsylvania on its Judicial Hellholes Watch List, citing an unfair legal climate in the Philadelphia and Allegheny County courts. The organization also describes how certain Pennsylvania court rulings create excessive uncertainty for litigants.

The U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform ranks Pennsylvania’s civil court system 37th in the nation, indicating that the legal liability climates of most other states are more favorable to economic growth. Pennsylvania’s poor standing compared to its competitor states is estimated to reduce employment by 1.53 percent.

The United States has the world’s costliest legal system, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. As a percentage of our economy, legal liability costs are double and triple those of the United Kingdom, France and Japan.

Money spent on legal liability is money that won’t be spent to hire new employees, develop new products, and grow our economy.

The PCCJR was created to lift Pennsylvania out of the liability doldrums by bringing fairness to the courts and civil laws and restoring competitiveness to Pennsylvania’s economy. PCCJR will also work to educate Pennsylvania residents and their elected representatives about the negative effects of a lawsuit system out-of-balance, as well as promote common-sense policies that bring needed reform while ensuring meaningful redress for those injured. After all, when courts are tied up with meritless latte lawsuits, justice is delayed for the truly deserving. At the same time, we seek to protect citizens, employers and health care providers from harmful legislation that will only benefit the lawyers at the expense of jobs and access to health care.

Our state civil court system must become a strong example of our commitment to fairness and justice. We have a long way to go and much work to do to meet this goal. PCCJR is fully committed to taking on this challenge with the support of many groups and individuals across Pennsylvania. We hope you can join us as well.