Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch

April 23, 2008 - NEW HARRIS STUDY RANKS ILLINOIS FIFTH-WORST STATE AND COOK COUNTY SECOND-WORST LOCAL JURISDICTION FOR LEGAL FAIRNESS Read More.

MARCH 30, 2008 - Pacific Research Institute's U.S. Tort Liability Index: 2008 Report. Read More.

DECEMBER 18, 2007 - NEW REPORT RANKS COOK COUNTY THE NATION'S THIRD-WORST 'JUDICIAL HELLHOLE'. Read More.

* * * ACTION ALERT * * *

Personal injury lawyers are quietly working to reinstate the costly Structural Work Act, a job-killing bill which would make trial lawyers rich and devastate the Illinois economy.

Help us stop the personal injury lawyers today!

Your urgent help is needed to defeat a bill being pushed by the personal injury lawyers that was introduced last week in the Illinois House of Representatives. Simply put, this devastating bill will enrich the trial lawyers and cost our state badly needed jobs!

The bill (HB 2094) would reinstate the Structural Work Act - a law that was so harmful to the Illinois economy that the General Assembly repealed it in 1995. This bill allows workers injured on the job to sue third parties outside of the workers' compensation system. Only one other state - New York - has retained this arcane anti-business and anti-consumer law.

While this bill would result in a jackpot for personal injury lawyers, it would cost Illinois jobs, lead to higher costs for consumers and have a drastic effect on our state's already-reeling economy.

We need your help to stop the personal injury lawyers! Please call or e-mail your state representative to urge him or her to vote against reinstating the Structural Work Act for the following reasons:

The Structural Work Act threatens Illinois jobs. Reinstating SWA will increase construction costs and stifle both private investment and public works projects. It will also put Illinois at a disadvantage to neighboring states, where the cost of doing business within the construction industry is significantly lower, costing Illinois tax revenue, jobs and economic growth. Other than New York, no state has a SWA-like law.
The Structural Work Act costs consumers. According to a study prepared by the Watson-Wyatt Group, it was conservatively estimated that SWA cost Illinois employers approximately $170 million a year in insurance costs and the legal fees alone related to defending these new lawsuits. These costs are passed on to all consumers. At a time when fuel prices have inflated the costs of goods and services, it makes no sense to burden consumers even more.
THB 2094 is unnecessary because construction safety has actually increased since the Structural Work Act was repealed.

This bill could come to a vote before the full House at any time, so please call your Representative today! Working together, we can stop the personal injury lawyers from re-opening the floodgates to lawsuit abuse.

Thank you for your continued support.

- The U.S. tort system costs $260 billion -- a "lawsuit tax" of $880 per person.
("U.S. Tort Cost: Update 2006," Tillinghast-Towers Perrin, Dec. 13, 2006)

- Illinois ranks near the bottom - 46th out of 50 - of all state legal systems for civil justice fairness.
(2007 State Liability Systems Ranking Study, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform, April 25, 2007)

- Four out of five Illinois residents say personal injury lawyers who file health care lawsuits are more interested in making money than helping patients.
(Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch, Braun Research, April 2005)