Louisiana has the second-worst legal climate in the nation, according to a survey released this morning by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. Among local jurisdictions, New Orleans also falls among the top 10 worst in the nation.
The poor rankings should come as no surprise, though. The state’s liability system is consistently named among the worst in the Lawsuit Climate Survey: Ranking the States, which is conducted by polling firm The Harris Poll on behalf of the U.S. Chamber and questions senior business executives about the fairness of state court systems.
Louisiana has never ranked higher than No. 47 in the survey, which The Harris Poll has conducted 12 times for the chamber since 2002. In the last survey, conducted in 2017, Louisiana claimed the No. 1 spot for the worst legal climate.
This year Illinois took the top spot. The 2019 report states Louisiana’s poor performance is due to its “excessive litigation driven by trial lawyers’ ubiquitous advertising and local government’s pursuit of novel lawsuits against the energy industry—the state’s top employer and economic driver.”
A record 89% of survey respondents said a state’s legal environment will likely impact their company’s decisions about where to do business, according to the report, meaning Louisiana’s lawsuit climate could weigh heavily on its economic future.
“Louisiana has remained stuck in the mud, moving up only one spot since 2017,” said Harold Kim, chief operating officer of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. “With over-the-top plaintiffs’ lawyers and unfair courts, it’s not surprising that Louisianans are paying an outrageous amount to support the state’s lawsuit system, including sky-high insurance premiums.”
Louisiana drivers pay an average of $2,300 for auto insurance annually—50% higher than the national average—the report says. The U.S. Chamber also notes that 43 lawsuits have been filed against energy companies over alleged coastal erosion in Louisiana.
Another reason listed for the state’s poor performance is “a system that allows plaintiffs’ lawyers to game the system by filing low-dollar claims and ‘shop’ for friendly judges in a favorable venue.” In rankings of specific elements of state liability systems, Louisiana ranked No. 50—worst in the nation—in trial judge impartiality.
The U.S. Chamber says the political power of the state’s plaintiff bar has prevented legislative reforms from passing, specifically calling out Senate Judiciary Committee A for blocking reform bills in recent years.
The results of the survey are based on interviews with 1,307 in-house general counsel, senior attorneys and other business executives at public and private companies nationwide with annual revenues of at least $100 million.
