Page 54 - Arkansas Trucking Report Volume 22 Issue 6

THE LAST WORD

The Road to Arkansas Tort Reform

By Carl Vogelpohl was referred to the voters. caps. In the federal court system, and in
Guest Writer SJR8 is a proposed constitutional 16 states, the legislature has authority to
amendment that preserves the right to a approve and/or adopt court rules
In 2018, Arkansas voters have the jury trial, the cornerstone of our judicial This campaign will be one of the
opportunity to enact meaningful civil jus- system. But, just as importantly, Arkansas most competitive of the 2018 election in
tice “tort” reform. A coalition representing lawmakers sought to protect Arkansas vic- Arkansas. Although SJR8 is the single best
a diverse group of Arkansans, including the tims by limiting contingency fees in civil opportunity to pass meaningful tort reform
Arkansas Trucking Association, has banded cases to no more than 33 1/3 percent of in our state and has broad support from a
together to take a stand against out-of- the net recovery. This will put an end to diverse coalition, it will face tough opposi-
control trial lawyers. This coalition wants to out-of-control trial lawyers taking egregious tion. Billboard/TV trial lawyers have built
limit the financial windfall reaped by trial amounts of victim’s compensation. an industry on aggressively marketing to
lawyers who use the threat of unreasonable Trial lawyers who oppose this amend- potential clients and creating “lawsuit fac-
“nuclear verdicts” to unfairly harm truck- ment are already spreading misinformation tories.” They oppose this amendment and
ers, small business owners, farmers, doctors by telling Arkansans that they will no lon- will use whatever resources necessary and
and job creators in Arkansas. ger be able to receive full compensation for millions of dollars to defeat it.
Studies show that the threat of unlim- economic damages. That’s just not true. In Arkansans for Jobs and Justice is a
ited verdicts hurts not just jobs in the truck- fact, SJR8 allows victims to be compensated legislative question committee formed in
ing industry but all small businesses. The for actual damages without caps or limits. October of 2017 to work for the passage of
Institute for Legal Reform notes that over What SJR8 does cap are two items that SJR8 in November of 2018.
three-quarters of small businesses fear they have created outrageous “nuclear verdicts.” We need your help to make mean-
will be the target of unjustifiable lawsuits. Punitive damage awards would be capped ingful tort reform a reality for Arkansas.
And The Wall Street Journal has noted that at the greater of $500,000 or three times We need your leadership in your local
some insurers have dropped coverage in the the compensatory damage award for each community to educate Arkansans about
past few years for certain types of fleets. claimant. Non-economic damage awards the importance of this issue to our state’s
And the rates for the coverage that has would be capped at $500,000 for each future. And we also need your financial
remained have skyrocketed. claimant, not to exceed $500,000 to be contribution to support the campaign.
Arkansans deserve to have a fair, com- shared among the beneficiaries of a dece- You can contribute, get involved and learn
mon-sense civil justice system that allows dent in a wrongful death action. more about the campaign by visiting www.
our state to better compete with surround- But SJR8 goes beyond the immediate ARJobsandJustice.com.
ing states for doctors and jobs. changes protecting Arkansans. Like many It will take all of us working together
In 2003, the Arkansas General other states, the amendment will allow the to be successful.
Assembly created a better system with the legislature to make policy decisions regard-
Civil Justice Reform Act. But over the past ing our civil justice system. Once again, Carl Vogelpohl is the campaign manager
for Arkansans for Jobs and Justice. He
14 years, the Arkansas Supreme Court has the legislature can make decisions about is an Arkansas native who lives in Little
reversed that progress and made it clear reforms such as loser-pays, joint and several Rock and is a campaign veteran of federal,
that the Arkansas Constitution has to be liability, or changes to our class-action rules. state and local campaigns. His most recent
amended to have meaningful tort reform. None of the items in SJR8 are novel. public service was as chief of staff for
So, in 2017, through the leadership of an Nineteen states have some form of limits Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. His prior
service included serving as chief of staff for
overwhelming majority of the Arkansas on contingency fees for attorneys. Thirty- then Congressman Tim Griffin, Arkansas’s
legislature, Senate Joint Resolution 8 (SJR8) three states have some form of damage current lt. governor.

Opinions expressed on this page may not reflect official policies or opinions of the Arkansas Trucking Association or the American Trucking Associations.

54 Issue 6 2017 | ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT