Lawsuit Responsibility Act Passes Out Of Senate Judiciary Committee

The Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday approved a measure that will reduce the cost of litigation and further reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits in Oklahoma. By an 8-0 vote, the committee voted to send the Lawsuit Responsibility Act to the full Senate for consideration.

Judiciary Chairman Charles Laster said Senate Bill 1784 would address the issue of frivolous lawsuits “on the front end of a case by giving judges more authority to dismiss cases deemed to be frivolous.”

“I recently conducted a statewide survey of judges who said that only a small percentage of cases filed in their courts are frivolous, but we should and can do more to further reduce those numbers,” Laster said.
Senate Bill 1874 also urges the Oklahoma Supreme Court to devise rules to regulate advertising by attorneys.

“Some of these commercials promote irresponsibility by suggesting that if you sue, you’ll win a settlement. I believe that within the protections of the First Amendment the Supreme Court can promulgate rules that will help create a culture of greater personal responsibility in our state,” Laster said.

The Lawsuit Responsibility Act also requires lawsuits to move quickly through the system in six months and doesn’t allow attorneys to drag a case out for years with little or no action. SB 1874 also calls for punishment of abuses of the discovery process by requiring earlier and stronger involvement by judges in pre-trial discovery.

It would also prohibit liability for sellers of food products for human consumption unless the product is defective.

“In other states there have been cases in which someone filed suit against a fast food chain because its food made the plaintiff fat. We haven’t had those kinds of cases in Oklahoma and under this law we won’t,” Laster said.

The measure also offers additional protections to doctors by eliminating any liability for physicians for merely prescribing FDA approved pharmaceutical products. Additionally, it eliminates excess liability for doctors whose practice consists of 50 percent Medicaid and Medicare and who carry $2 million in malpractice insurance.

The Shawnee Democrat said the reforms passed by the Legislature in 2003 and 2004 are working

“The number of lawsuits in our state is down. One Oklahoma City hospital recently told us that the number of suits filed against it has dropped by 70 percent and our doctors pay among the lowest medical malpractice premiums in the country,” Laster said.

The Senator noted that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranks Oklahoma’s civil justice system among 15 “moderate” states.

“I think moderate is a good place to be when you are talking about balancing the rights of the citizens to seek relief in the courts against attempts to be as business friendly as possible,” Laster said.