Legal climates in Illinois, Missouri called unfair to business

ST. LOUIS - Illinois and Missouri rank among the states with the most anti-business legal climates, according to a study by the nation's largest business organization.

Missouri dropped to 41st from 33rd in 2003 in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranking announced Monday. Illinois fell to 44th from 38th, chamber president Thomas J. Donohue said during a news conference in Springfield, Ill.

Dan Mehan, president and chief executive of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, blamed Missouri's tumbling ranking on, among other things, the lack of adequate tort reform, including caps on punitive damages.

"Talk to Missouri employers as I do, and they're absolutely interested in getting a fair shake in the justice system. They're not getting that right now," Mehan said Tuesday, calling the latest study "recognition that we're not proud of."

In Missouri, doctors have pleaded with lawmakers this session to find a solution to rapidly rising malpractice premiums. Republican legislators have responded with a measure limiting where lawsuits can be filed, who can be sued and how much can be paid out.

The bill is a key part of the GOP legislative agenda in Missouri. But it is vehemently opposed by many Democrats, who say it restricts victims' rights and will not lower doctors' insurance premiums.

Last year, the Republican majority got a bill with similar provisions through the House and Senate, but it was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Bob Holden.

For the third straight year, Delaware was ranked as the best legal climate for businesses. Mississippi was ranked at the bottom.

The report cites Madison County, Ill., for a hostile litigation climate, tied with New York and San Francisco and second only to Los Angeles.

But Doug Wojcieszak of the group "Victims Families United," which opposes restrictions on lawsuits, said, "Madison County gets the reputation it has because it's one of the few places in the United States where injured people can get their day in court."

The report was based on interviews with 1,400 corporate attorneys asked to grade their states on issues such as judges' impartiality and competence, juries' predictability and fairness, and overall treatment of class-action suits.

The chamber commissioned the poll for about $100,000 and will spend $900,000 on ads in national newspapers to dramatize its findings.

Tort reform is one of the more pressing areas demanding attention now.

In the business field I am in we devote a part of every meeting to discussion of liability, law-suits and what we must do to protect ourselves. #1.....document, document, document.

In conversations with clients we must never let our guard down, being aware that even remarks in casual conversation can be used in court. This results in a formality and distance that is a restraint on conducting transactions easily.

Thank God I'm not a doctor! A doctor must expect every patient that leaves his/her office to make the next stop at an attorney's office. Trial lawyers (of the John Edwards ilk, are the scourge of our society)

I recently read that Mississipi had changed (or was changing) their liability laws. Doctors were giving up their practices because of the huge awards juries were handing down.

As Shakespeare said, (...First thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers...

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