Create Jobs, Not Lawsuits
More than 40 local leaders joined Rio Grande Valley Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (RGVCALA) today for the first Texas stop of the nationwide "Create Jobs, Not Lawsuits" tour.
Our goal today was to bring attention to the effects of lawsuit abuse on our national economy and also talk about the benefits of reforms we’ve passed here in Texas.
We heard today from State Sen. Eddie Lucio about how a fair legal system is critical to the Texas economy and how medical reform was critical to improving access to health care for all Texans – but especially for those in the Valley.
Jon Opelt, with the Texas Alliance for Patient Access, noted that doctors are moving to Texas and choosing to practice here because of the legal reforms we have passed that have injected a healthy dose of common sense and fairness to Texas courts. Prior to reforms, doctors couldn’t afford to practice here...and Texans were losing their access to care. Opelt noted that prior to legal reform, 36 Texas counties did not have an ER doctor. Now they do, and 29 of those counties are in rural Texas. That’s increasing access to care!
Chuck DeVore, with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, noted that legal reform creates better access to the court system because those who are truly injured don’t have to wait in line behind a slew of frivolous lawsuits.
We appreciate our speakers today and the folks in the Valley who attended this event. The Valley is ground zero in the battle against lawsuit abuse. We have suffered the costs and consequences of lawsuit abuse, all while personal injury trial lawyers played our courts like their own litigation lottery. In 1990, with the birth of the Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) grassroots movement here in the Valley, the climate began to change. People began to understand that we all suffer when lawsuit abuse is allowed to fester. Thankfully, after nearly two decades of significant legislative reform, we have introduced predictability and common sense to the process and our civil justice system is now considered a model of reform.
We believe legal reform needs to be a national priority – just as it’s been a priority in Texas – before our economy falls further behind. I encourage all of you to support Sick of Lawsuits and the RGV Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse as we spread the message and do our part to make sure 2012 is the year to bring common sense legal reform where it’s needed, because America needs more jobs, not more lawsuits.
