No wonder Florida has a national reputation as a judicial hellhole. For better or worse, more and more lawyers are the ones making the laws in this state. And for worse, more and more trial lawyers.
Florida trial lawyers have spent an alarming $6.2 million on state political contributions during this election cycle, according to a newly-released statewide report from Sick of Lawsuits Florida (SOL). See the report in the attachment at the end of this story.
It shows personal injury lawyer contributions totaling $1.1 million to individual state candidates, $1.6 million to state party committees, and $3.5 million to super-PACs and other outside groups. By any standard, this is a staggering amount of political spending on state campaigns, from just a slice of all personal injury lawyers in the state. And it's evidence of Florida personal injury lawyers’ attempt to influence state lawmakers.
SOL is an online network of more than 200,000 people interested in restoring integrity to our justice system. Read more about it at www.sickoflawsuits.org/florida.
In introducing the report, SOL spokeswoman Julie Griffiths said, “Florida’s political system has become increasingly dominated by personal injury lawyer influence. The massive influx of campaign contributions encourages lawmakers to promote personal injury lawyer interests -- namely, finding more ways to sue. It’s where the cycle of lawsuit abuse begins.”
Florida is ranked as the state with the seventh worst litigation climate, said Griffiths. Making matters worse, Florida is increasingly becoming a hotbed for personal injury lawyer advertising, with Tampa receiving the dubious distinction of being the No. 1-in-the-nation most saturated television market for those ads.
“The implications of a bad legal environment are long lasting and hurt small businesses, consumers and the state’s economy. That’s why voters need to be informed about where candidates stand on lawsuit abuse issues and who is providing them financial support,” said Griffiths.
SOL's report is important now because Election Day is three weeks away. In a state where the next speaker of the House and next president of the Senate are both lawyers, tort reform would be a heavy lift during the 2017-2018 sessions, even if nothing changed after the election. But there will indeed be changes. And Floridians need to ask candidates quickly, new ones and some of the incumbents, whether they will support more jobs or more lawsuits if elected. And if they are elected, follow their position on tort issues.
Lawyer candidates, even the personal liability variety, come in both flavors, Republican and Democrat. Here are candidates on the November ballot you might want to take the closest look at:
Florida Senate
- District 8: Rod Smith, D
- District 18: Bob Buesing, D
- District 34: Gary Farmer, D
- District 37: Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, R
- District 37: Jose Javier Rodriguez, D
Florida House
- District 9: Jim Messer, R
- District 11: Cord Byrd, R
- District 30: Ryan Neal Yadav, D
- District 54: Erin Grall, R
In particular, keep SD 8's Smith in your radar. Smith is the former head of the Florida Democratic Party and was the 8th Judicial Circuit‘s state attorney 1993-2000. He is now at Avera & Smith, where he specializes in employment law, personal injury, criminal defense, wrongful death, and tobacco litigation.
You also would be well-advised to follow Farmer, likely winner in heavily Democratic SD 34. He is the former president of the Florida Justice Association, the trade association representing trial lawyers in the state. In that role he fought efforts to limit medical malpractice awards and workers' compensation payouts. He won the August primary against Jim Waldman and Gwyn Clarke-Reed in what was the state's most expensive Democratic primary. The Sun-Sentinel believes "Farmer will bring energy to Senate Democrats." He likely will fight tort reform tooth and nail.
I asked Ken Barnes, executive director of SOL's California Initiative, why so many lawyers run for seats in state legislatures when the job generally pays less than a quarter of what they can make in a law firm.
"First," he told me, "lawyers can and most still do practice law and serve at the same time. Few lose money. But then you have to realize it all goes around in a circle. What trial lawyers in office do is protect the goofy laws in place that maintain legal loopholes, and when possible, pass laws that create new loopholes. With the money they make from applying those laws, they invest in supporting more lawyers for office.
"Why do you think Florida, a storm-prone state, can't even get an assignment of benefits law passed?" Barnes asked. He said lawsuit abuse is a Florida job killer that first cuts jobs and wages, and it's always the consumer who suffers.
The report examines political contribution data for the top 125 most politically active trial lawyers/law firms to Florida candidates and committees -- including contributions made by the Florida Justice Association. All contributions from these sources to other candidates/committees are from Jan. 1, 2014 to Aug. 31, 2016. Contributions data was made available through the Florida Secretary of State/Division of Elections website.
Highlights of the report include:
- Total contributions from trial lawyers/law firms of more than $6 million in 2015-2016
- The top 4 highest spending law firms each contributed more than $300,000; with the top 10 law firms each contributing more than $400,000
- Super PACs were the largest recipient in 2015-2016 cycle
- Contributions to partisan officials/committees are evenly split between Democrats and Republicans in 2015-2016
- There were 27 separate contributions of at least $50,000.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
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