Government representatives, Members of Congress and the Bush Administration all acknowledge that America’s legal system has negative repercussions on our nation’s ability to compete internationally. Simply put, the system is broken and lawsuits have become a multi-billion dollar per year industry in America that is being taken advantage of by some opportunistic lawyers.
The need for meaningful and effective tort reform, which will eliminate abuses in our justice system and protect an individual’s right to bring legitimate lawsuits forward, is being touted as part of our nation’s solution to its declining competitiveness.
Now a new study shows that economic costs of America’s tort system and excessive litigation are far greater than previously documented. According to the study, the United States spends a whopping 2.2 percent of its GDP on direct tort costs. To put that number into perspective, other advanced economies that spend an average of 0.9 percent of GDP on direct tort costs.
Recently, Dr. Lawrence J. McQuillan, Director of Business and Economic Studies and senior Fellow in Political Economy at the Pacific Research Institute, the study’s lead author, sat down with CFIF Corporate Counsel and Senior Vice President Renee Giachino to discuss the litigation lottery costs in America and its burden on the U.S. economy.
What follows is the interview conducted at the annual meeting of the American Justice Partnership...[Listen]