Protecting West Virginia’s Civil Justice System and the Rights of West
Virginia’s Consumers, Workers, Small Business Owners and Their Families.
Legislature Should Follow Governor Tomblin’s Lead: Focus on Real Solutions to Real Problems, Not Those Manufactured in a PR Campaign
January 14, 2015
Charleston, W.Va. – The West Virginia Association for Justice commends Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin for his State of the State address that outlined clear solutions to identified business concerns that will help our state attract new businesses and increase jobs. WVAJ urges the West Virginia Legislature to follow the governor’s lead, and work on real concerns—not those identified in a discredited PR campaign that unfairly attacks the state’s judicial system.
“Governor Tomblin’s recommendations put West Virginia on the right track to bring new businesses to our state and grow our economy. He addressed the real concerns businesses have identified. The National Federation of Independent Businesses identified concerns such as taxes, government regulation and quality of labor. When you look at the CNBC ‘Best States for Business’ report, it shows that West Virginia needs to improve our infrastructure, have more skilled workers available and have an educated workforce for high-technology, 21st century jobs,” said Anthony Majestro, president of the West Virginia Association for Justice.
“Under Governor Tomblin’s leadership in first the Senate and now governor’s office, we have lowered business taxes by nearly $500 million in just six years. The cost of doing business in our state is 14 percent below the national average. The proposals introduced by the Governor tonight will allow us to continue to improve our business climate and build on the more than $20 billion in new investments made in this state in the last decade.”
“West Virginia legislators should also follow the Governor’s lead and denounce the widely discredited American Tort Reform Association report that attacks our state and its judicial climate without justification. There is no basis for the attacks made against our courts in this so-called study, and it should not be the basis for any legislative action.”
“Governor Tomblin’s recommendations tonight are in sharp contrast to the agenda being pursued by the Republican legislature as a result of the ATRA PR campaign. The reason why is obvious—Governor Tomblin is putting West Virginia and the people who live and do business here first. The Republicans’ first priority is finding ways to increase the profits for the out-of-state, billion-dollar corporate special interests that paid for both the ATRA attack and their election campaigns.”
The Truth About West Virginia Courts
According to the National Center for State Courts, West Virginia has always been in the bottom 25 percent of states for the number of civil cases filed based on population. In 2010, the last year that data is available for all 50 states and Washington D. C., West Virginia ranked 39th. In contrast, the rankings for surrounding states are: Maryland – 1st, Virginia – 3rd, Ohio – 16th, Kentucky – 22nd and Pennsylvania – 38th
Actual West Virginia case filings continue to decline. There were 4,302 civil cases filed in 2010, and that total declined to 4,098 in 2012 – a decline of 4.7 percent
NCSC data show that on average just 3.5 percent of civil cases are tort cases. In West Virginia that’s just 143 cases per capita in 2012. In Kentucky there were 134, in Ohio 225 and in Pennsylvania 289.
Appeals to the West Virginia Supreme Court are at a 29-year low, with just 1,319 cases in 2013. Over the last 15 years, case filings have declined from 3,569 in 1999 to 1,319—a decline of more than 60 percent. According to data compiled by the National Center for State Courts, West Virginia’s decrease is four times higher than the national average decline of 14 percent.
More than half of the West Virginia Supreme Court’s filings are in workers compensation, abuse and neglect, and criminal felony appeals. Civil appeals for tort cases, contract cases and property comprise just 12.7 percent of the caseload.
ATRA and Its Discredited Hellhole Attack
The American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) was founded in 1986. While it claims to have “135,000 grassroots supporters” and that its membership is diverse and includes “nonprofits, small and large companies, as well as state and national trade, business and professional associations, the truth is the members are largely Fortune 500 companies with direct financial stake in restricting lawsuits” including “the tobacco, insurance, chemical, auto and pharmaceutical industries.” (Center for Justice and Democracy)
The New York Times reported in 2007 that the report was not a valid analysis—and the report’s authors admitted it. “The question is whether the report’s arguments make sense, are supported by evidence and are applied evenhandedly. Here the report falls short . . . It has no apparent methodology.” In response, ATRA admitted that “we have never claimed to be an empirical study.” (New York Times, December 24, 2007)
“The explicit goal [of the Hellhole Report] is to appeal to the public as voters, to scare state politicians into making pro-defendant changes in the law in order to make the label go away, and to get rid of judges whose rulings made ATRA members unhappy. Judicial Hellholes are selected in whatever way suits ATRA’s political goals. The choice is not based on research into the actual conditions in the courts.” (Elizabeth Thornburg,“Judicial Hellholes, Lawsuit Climates and Bad Social Science,” West Virginia Law Review, Vol. 110 No. 3)
“The point of the hellhole campaign is not to create an accurate snapshot of reality. The point of the hellhole campaign is to motivate legislators and judges to make law that will favor repeat corporate defendants and their insurers, and to spur voters to vote for those judges and legislators who will do so.” (Judicial Hellholes, Lawsuit Climates and Bad Social Science: Lessons from West Virginia, p. 3)
An Illinois judge ruled that the Hellhole report was part of a PR strategy to damage courts and aid a defendant. Judge William Mudge issued an order which disclosed that Syngenta Crop Protection Inc., a defendant in a pending water pollution case, and its Chicago public relations firm developed a prejudicial PR campaign based on the Judicial Hellhole report. The judge found that the proposal “outlines a plan to tie the defense of this action into a negative public relations campaign that attacked the Madison County judicial system as a “‘judicial hellhole’ friendly to frivolous lawsuits” and a “source of ‘jackpot justice’” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 21, 2011)
The West Virginia Association for Justice represents more than 500 plaintiffs’ attorneys throughout West Virginia and in surrounding states. WVAJ members are committed to preserving and improving our civil justice system in order to ensure that any person who is injured by the misconduct and negligence of others can obtain justice in America’s courtrooms. WVAJ members work to protect West Virginia families by promoting safe workplaces, safe products, quality healthcare, a clean environment and corporate responsibility.
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