Florida proved something important over the past few years: when you take lawsuit abuse seriously, affordability follows.
But while three special sessions are about to begin, it still does not seem that civil justice reform will be addressed by the Florida Legislature. As affordability struggles continue, this marks a missed opportunity for lawmakers in Tallahassee.
The state’s tort reforms passed in 2023 were not theoretical; they delivered real, measurable results for Floridians and even helped the state shed its notorious “Judicial Hellhole” reputation.
Here are some of the results produced by those reforms:
Even rideshare costs have come down.
As California and other states continue to grapple with rising costs and growing instability in their insurance markets, Florida has shown that meaningful legal system reforms can and will restore balance and deliver real relief for consumers.
That’s what a functioning civil justice system looks like: fair, predictable and focused on real harm – not exploitation.
But success is not self-sustaining.
It requires vigilance and a willingness to address new threats as they emerge.
This session, the Florida House had a clear opportunity to build on that progress by addressing third-party litigation financing, a fast-growing, largely unregulated industry that allows outside investors to bankroll lawsuits for profit.
Third-party litigation financing injects hidden financial interests into litigation; it often prolongs cases, inflates settlements and drives up costs that consumers end up paying.
A recent report by The Perryman Group found that third-party litigation financing is associated with more than $54.2 billion in lost U.S. GDP and approximately 454,450 lost jobs – further underscoring the real economic consequences of inaction.
Despite these costs the Florida House, under the leadership of Speaker Daniel Perez, chose not to act. That decision leaves Florida exposed and more vulnerable to lawsuit abuse.
Every unchecked cost driver in the legal system threatens to erode the gains that have brought stability back to insurance markets and relief to families.
The reforms worked, but without follow-through, their benefits can be undone.
Floridians need a legal system that protects access to the courts while preventing abuse that drives up costs for everyone.
The progress achieved shows that the approach is working.
What’s missing now is the commitment to finish the job.
This session, the Florida Legislature should have been squarely focused on making this state more affordable for the people who live and work here.
But the Florida House fell woefully short in meeting that responsibility, and that’s why it deserves a “D” grade for the session.
Meanwhile, the Florida Senate merely gets a “B+” for holding the line against the bad ideas pushed by the pro-trial lobby leadership in the House – and for advancing the Senate’s third-party litigation financing bill, which never even got a hearing under Speaker Perez.
When Floridians needed more, they got less from the Florida House.
They will always remember that the leaders they chose stood in the way of making their state more affordable.
And they deserve better.
Tom Gaitens is the executive director of Florida Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (FL CALA).
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Our politicians let Floridians down on affordability | Opinion
Reporting by Tom Gaitens Guest columnist, Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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