Tuesday, July 30, 2002

Tort reform? Courtesy of Ernie the Attorney comes this link to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's 2002 study as to what states' judicial systems are most and least fair. (big pdf file). The fact that Alabama ranks near the bottom sounds important, until you realize that the study, in its entirety, was simply asking corporate in-house lawyers to spout off as to their subjective impressions. I look forward to the next big study, asking current and potential crack dealers which judicial systems they believe to be most fair, and then advocating major changes in the law based on their answers.

UPDATE: It occurs to me that it might be useful to go beyond the snitty comments I made above, and address the argument "yes, but the perceptions of corporate inhouse lawyers are important, because their perceptions can affect whether companies do business in Alabama, and business is good." This is unconvincing to me because, among other reasons, IN FACT Alabama law has become vastly more pro-business in various ways in the last few years (regarding, among other subjects, certifiability of class actions, the enforcement of arbitration agreements, etc., etc.). If these business lawyers don't recognize those substantial changes that have already occurred in Alabama law, there is no reason to believe that further pro-business changes in the law would affect their perceptions either.

posted by sam 10:25 AM 0 comments

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