The Pennsylvania Coalition for Civil Justice Reform (PCCJR) recently filed three amicus curiae briefs to cases pending before the state Supreme Court. An amicus brief is a “friend of the court” brief which allows PCCJR to argue on behalf of important legal and public policy matters before Pennsylvania’s appellate courts. Below are the issues involved in our recent…
Coalition Updates
U.S. Supreme Court to Take Up False Claims Case
The U.S. Supreme Court will be taking a closer look at the federal False Claims Act in the near future. The nation’s high court recently agreed to consider Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, Inc. – with the court’s decision helping to define the scope and extent to which the government can dismiss a FCA lawsuit. Under the…
LBFC Report Finds Increasing Sovereign Immunity Caps for Local and State Governments Will Lead to Increase Costs, Higher Taxes
A recent report by the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee (LBFC) found that the current sovereign immunity caps on damages are adequate to compensate more than 99 percent of personal injury cases brought against state and local governments. Personal injury damages against state and local governments are capped to protect taxpayers who foot the bill for such…
General Assembly Adjourns for Summer Recess Without Addressing Venue Issue
The state legislature and Wolf administration tied up the final pieces of the 2022-23 budget over the weekend. Lawmakers left Harrisburg without voting on a proposed constitutional amendment protecting the state’s current venue rule as it relates to medical liability cases. Over the course of the spring and early summer, as plaintiffs’ attorneys ramped up…
Personal Injury Lawyers Escape to Paradise (And Avoid Paying Taxes!)
Not only are plaintiffs’ attorneys continually going after the deepest pockets in search of a large payday – now many are moving to Puerto Rico to benefit from advantageous tax laws. According to a LAW.com article, there’s a growing number of lawyers specializing in mass torts who are relocating to the island paradise as a result…
Constitutional Amendment on Venue Needed to Protect Patient Care in PA!
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Civil Procedural Rules Committee has for the last three years been considering a change to the Medical Liability Venue Rule that would severely hurt healthcare in our state. If adopted, it would usher in a return to venue shopping which targets physicians and other healthcare providers by dragging them into Philadelphia…