Weslaco – A large number of Texas voters skip Supreme Court and other judicial contests with many of them saying they simply don’t know enough about the candidates to make an informed choice. 

 

RIO GRANDE CITY -- A state appeals court overturned a Starr County jury's landmark verdict Wednesday against the makers of the painkiller Vioxx.  In a unanimous decision, the San Antonio-based Fourth Court of Appeals ruled there was insufficient proof linking 71-year-old Leonel Garza Sr.'s short-term use of the drug to the heart attack that killed him in 2001.  The panel's judgment marks the first time an appellate court has overturned one of the five Vioxx cases decided against New Jersey-based Merck & Co. Inc. since it pulled the drug from pharmacy shelves in 2004, a company spokesman said.

Limits on lawsuit damages since 1995 have helped pump $1.53 billion into the local economy and created nearly 8,000 new jobs, according to a study commissioned by a legal reform group.

East Texans Against Lawsuit Abuse contributes an op-ed to the Valley Morning Star in Harlingen, Texas.

Despite significant reforms to Texas’ legal system, the state continues to rank as one of the ten worst legal climates in the country, according to a recent report by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform.  Texas ranked 41st in the nation on several measures in the 2008 report; the state was ranked 44th in 2007.

Forbes Magazine named the Rio Grande Valley and the Texas Gulf Coast among “The Worst Places to Get Sued in America,” according to a recent article. 

After researching a medical condition on the Internet, have you ever walked away more afraid than informed? […] Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott recently alerted consumers about checking their sources of online health information. Members of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse said they are concerned, as well.

Published in the Valley Morning Star on February 19, 2008

Television expose of local barratry . . .

Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse of the Rio Grande Valley responds to its notorious community ranking in ATRA's annual Judicial Hellhole Report.

As published in the Brownsville Herald, 18 December 2007

As published in the McAllen Monitor, 18 December 2007

Letter to the Editor

Dallas Morning News

Submitted via email on Nov. 29, 2007 

RE: "Critics: Texas Supreme Court favors big business," Nov. 25, 2007

 

Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) groups in Texas today applauded a proposed Transparency Code issued by the American Tort Reform Association to enhance public disclosure of contractual arrangements between state attorneys general and private contingency fee lawyers.

 

Valley Morning Star August 20, 2007 OP-ED: Roses are red, but lawsuits make us blue Bill Summers/Another View So a husband rings up a flower shop and orders posies for his mistress. The missus finds out, a divorce turns ugly and the cheating heart sues the flower shop because now his divorce is going to really cost him. Sounds like the start of a bad joke � or at least an old country tune, right? Sadly, no; this lawsuit is happening here in Texas and it�s just the latest thorn in the side of our justice system.

 

Fort Worth Business Press July 23, 2007 LETTER: Lawsuit reform works What welcome news: the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners received an onslaught of applications from physicians eager to treat Texans, thanks to common sense medical liability reforms (Fort Worth Business Press, July 9-15). There was certainly a time when Texas doctors were closing their doors or limiting their scope of practice and when we didn�t see such a rush of physicians who wanted to practice in this state.

 

When our founding fathers embraced this nation�s independence some 231 years ago, they understood the importance � and privilege � of a fair and impartial legal system. The right to a trial by jury is a cornerstone of our country�s judicial heritage, yet sadly, courts across the nation are struggling to fill jury boxes. The crisis at the courthouse stems from the fact that a staggering number of potential jurors simply fail to show up when summonsed.

 

An overwhelming number of Texas voters believe that people should be held accountable for ignoring a summons to jury service and a majority support tougher penalties for individuals who shirk the responsibility, a new public opinion survey shows.

As taxpayers face Tax Day, CALA urges them to also consider their share of the cost of litigation . . . �Griping about taxes on April 15 is an American past-time,� said Bill Summers, president of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA). �But when you consider your share of the cost of lawsuits � your share of the cost for other people suing � every citizen should be howling with outrage.

 

When federal officials divvy up funds to maintain Texas's shipping channels and its intracoastal waterway, the small fishing village of Port Mansfield is inevitably last in line.

 

Rio Grande Valley port directors claim an increasing number of lawsuits filed locally against dredging companies threaten to negatively affect the regional economy.

 

An explosion in the number of personal injury lawsuits against dredging companies is exploiting local courts and juries, taxing the entire Texas economy and threatening upwards of one million jobs, according to Rio Grande Valley Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse.