Most Important Issues

Most Important Issues to Focus on to Improve Litigation Environment
The study also asked respondents to name the most important issue that state policymakers who care about economic development should focus on to improve the litigation environment in their state. Reform of punitive damages was cited by 12% of our respondents as the most important issue. Other top issues named were timeliness of decisions (9%), tort reform issues in general (8%), eliminate unnecessary lawsuits (7%), caps/limits on jury awards (6%) and caps/limits on non-economic damages (5%).

Most Important Issues for State Policymakers Who Care About Economic Development to Focus on to Improve Litigation Environment*

	Total
Base:	1599
	%
Reform of punitive damages	12
Timeliness of decisions	9
Tort reform issues in general	8
Eliminate unnecessary lawsuits	7
Caps/limits on jury awards	6
Caps/limits on non-economic damages	5
Limitation of class action suits	4
Speeding up the trial process	4
Limits on discovery	4
Other fee issues	4
Business/corporate issues/regulation/fairness	4
Fairness and impartiality	3
Judicial competence	3
Level playing field/do not favor plaintiffs	3
Predictability	3
Selection of judges	3
Adequately funding the court system (i.e., salaries)	2
Appointment vs. election of judges	2
Attorney/court fees paid by the loser	2
Forum shopping/venue selection	2
Limiting attorney fees	2
Quality of judges	2
Workers’ compensation	2
Jury system reform	2
Case processing	2
Summary judgment issues	2
More judges/judicial/staffing resources	2

* Note: The responses displayed in this table were volunteered by the respondents. Mentions by 2% or more are given above.

Base: General Counsel/Senior Litigators (N=1599)
Q435: What do you think is the single worst aspect of the litigation environment that state policy makers should focus on to improve the business climate in their states?

• Most Important Issues (PDF)
• Lawsuit Climate Overview Report (PDF)
• Full Liability Systems Ranking Study (PDF)