Would you like to have some fun? Visit the W.Va. Secretary of State's website and check out the reports of campaign contributions. It will be an enlightening experience. For example, you'll find just which judicial and legislative candidates were bought and paid for by trial lawyers, a/k/a personal injury lawyers. Those are the guys who file lots of lawsuits. Every once in a while, their claims are legitimate. More often than not, they're what is commonly termed "frivolous."
I bring this up because I recently browsed the Journal of the Missouri Bar, Vol. 62, No. 6, which contains a summary of Missouri's 2005 tort reform legislation, Section 508.010, et seq. RSMo 2006.
One of the revisions that jumps out is the limitation on punitive damages to the lesser of $500,000 or five times the amount of actual damages.
When will West Virginia's Legislature tackle serious legal reform? Judging by the thousands of campaign dollars given by plaintiffs' attorneys, mostly to Democrat legislators, I'm not holding my breath. Continuing to have laws, legislators and judges biased so strongly in favor of personal injury lawyers and against businesses only will keep the Mountain State near the bottom of the economic heap. Legal fairness would benefit not only "big business," but every West Virginian - especially those who ever hope to find employment and a prosperous future for themselves and their families.
