A recent opinion column by PCCJR Executive Director Curt Schroder details the hidden inflation costs Pennsylvania’s excessive, plaintiff-friendly legal environment is having on taxpayers.
As noted in the above article, a recent report from the Georgia State University and Brighthouse Financial shows that lawsuit costs – driven by rapidly growing jury verdicts – are increasing faster than normal inflation.
Unfortunately, it’s the public that ends up bearing the brunt of paying for the cost of larger and less predictable lawsuits. These impacts are felt via increased health care costs, higher prices for goods and services, and private sector decisions about whether to hire, expand or invest.
A growing trend in the Commonwealth of nuclear jury verdicts, third-party litigation funding, and legislative proposals that allow lawyers to suggest specific dollar amounts for economic and noneconomic damages, only serve to exacerbate this situation.
For a deeper dive on these issues and how they are impacting taxpayers, you can read the entire op/ed here.