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PCCJR Update — February 25, 2019

Venue Change Decision Delayed * Deeper Concerns About Rule Change Exposed * PCCJR Debates PA Association for Justice

Venue Change Decision Delayed… For Now

In a Valentines Day present to health care practitioners and patients, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court announced it would delay consideration of changing the venue rules for medical malpractice cases. In announcing the decision, the court said it would wait until after the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee completes a study on whether a change is needed, and the implications of any such change. That report should be completed by January 1, 2020.

“The decision by the Supreme Court is a welcome development,” said PCCJR Executive Director Curt Schroder. “A change of this magnitude should not be made without due diligence.”

Since announcing the potential venue rule change just before the Christmas holiday, PCCJR and its coalition partners have held news conferences, made media appearances, written letters and opinion editorials, testified before the legislature, and reached out to its broad constituency to rally opposition to the proposed change which would return venue shopping to medical malpractice cases. In the early 2000s, jackpot jury awards and frivolous malpractice lawsuits drove up medical malpractice insurance premiums to such levels that seriously threatened Pennsylvanians’ access to health care. In response, a new venue rule was enacted to require medical liability lawsuit to be brought only in the county where the cause of action arose. This change made malpractice insurance more affordable and returned patient access to health care and services.

In the weeks since the potential rule change was announced, hundreds of comment letters in opposition to the rule change were sent to the little-known committee the Supreme Court assigned to address the proposed change. Editorials have also cropped up in publications like the Reading Eagle and Penn Record questioning why this issue was being raised and the fact that the process would proceed largely out of public view.

PCCJR and its members have been active and vocal over the last eight weeks. We want to thank everyone who did their part calling attention to this important issue. While the delay is an interim victory for PCCJR and our partners, it is fair to say the debate is far from over. Staying engaged and sharing information within your circles of influence will be essential to the long-term effort to protect Pennsylvania health care and protect the current venue rule which has worked well and kept needless cases out of high verdict jurisdictions such as Philadelphia.

Forbes Article Exposes Deeper Concerns About Rule Change Proposal

Five lawyers, including the chair of the Supreme Court’s Civil Procedure Rules Committee, work at firms that file medical malpractice cases in Pennsylvania, according to a report in Forbes. That same report, which looked into the proposed venue rule change, also found that lawyers at these firms gave heavily to a PAC that spent millions on the 2015 state Supreme Court races. That was the year when three trial bar supported Supreme Court candidates won and significantly altered the balance on the Supreme Court.  Read the Forbes article here.

PCCJR Debates Rule Change with PA Association for Justice

Just one day before the Supreme Court announced it would delay it’s decision on the proposed venue rule change, PCCJR’s Executive Director Curt Schroder debated lawyer Cliff Rieders, representing the PA Association for Justice on WITF’s Smart Talk. The PA Association for Justice is a trial lawyer association and advocates for the pecuniary interests of personal injury attorneys.

To say that this conversation, moderated by host Scott Lamar, was “lively” would be an understatement! You can listen to the full podcast replay here.

 

 

 

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PCCJR’s Curt Schroder speaks out on ‘Judicial Hellhole’ designation

“Every plaintiff wants to file in Philadelphia and every defendant wants to stay out of Philadelphia at all costs.”

PCCJR Executive Director Curt Schroder was recently featured in a video focusing in on the Pennsylvania city’s 2017-2018 designation as a “Judicial Hellhole” by the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA). “I always say the fastest growing part of the economy in Philadelphia is litigation tourism.” That is exactly what landed the “City of Unbrotherly Torts” back on the ATRA list of shame after out-of-state mass tort filings surged, along with multi-million dollar verdicts.

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Listen Inaugural Broadcast of Lawsuit Watch

February 23, 2018|WFLY Radio

This month WFYL Radio premiered the broadcast of Lawsuit Watch; a 30-minute program dedicated to exploring the impact of lawsuits on individuals, Pennsylvania, and our economy. In our inaugural broadcast, we discussed recent efforts in Pennsylvania to end lawsuit abuse, Philadelphia’s status as a “Judicial Hellhole” and the current system of electing judges in Pennsylvania.

Listen to the full podcast here!

Lawsuit Watch airs on the fourth Monday of every month at 8:30 am on WFYL 1180 am. WFYL broadcasts live over the web and will post the program as a podcast after each airing.

 

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Philadelphia’s ‘Hellhole’ status up for debate, but group points at huge Xarelto verdict

The Penn Record

by Nicholas Malfitano |Dec. 21, 2017, 12:19pm

HARRISBURG – A recent, massive Philadelphia verdict that bucked a small national trend shows the city’s court isn’t treating businesses fairly, Pennsylvania’s legal reform group says.

But the Philadelphia Bar Association disputes the assertion that the city is a “Judicial Hellhole” – a title given annually by the American Tort Reform Association to jurisdictions it deems problematic for companies.

The verdict – the first reached in Philadelphia’s Complex Litigation Center, which is handling more than 1,500 cases over the blood-thinner Xarelto – was the first win nationally for plaintiffs and included a whopping punitive damages award.

“After three verdicts for the defense in the federal court Xarelto bellwether trials, the Philadelphia court awarded $27.8 million to a Xarelto plaintiff,” said Curt Schroder, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Coalition for Civil Justice Reform.

“Of that amount, only $1.8 million was awarded to compensate the plaintiff for alleged injuries. The punitive damages awarded in the amount of $26 million were 14 times the amount of compensatory damages.

“No one wants to be sued, but to be sued in Philadelphia often subjects a defendant to outlandish and unreasonable damages.”

Schroder stated 85 percent of businesses responding to a U.S. Chamber Institute of Legal Reform report indicate that a state’s lawsuit climate is “an important factor in deciding where to locate and grow their businesses.

The same report saw Pennsylvania rank 38th out of 50 states in litigation climate, with medical malpractice payouts in Pennsylvania being among the highest in the nation on a per capita basis. The ILR owns the Pennsylvania Record.

Earlier in December, ATRA named the city a Judicial Hellhole, focusing on Philadelphia’s CLC. The state Supreme Court is also an area of concern for ATRA.

“The ATRA Judicial Hellholes report is a stark reminder that in Pennsylvania, employers and health care providers still face an uphill struggle in court, especially in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas,” Schroder said.

“The findings in this report are consistent with other studies that have been critical of the impact of Pennsylvania’s courts on job creation and health care availability.”

The CLC has long been a haven for out-of-state plaintiffs. The percentage of claims belonging to out-of-state plaintiffs has traditionally been in the high 80s. In 2016, the percentage for pharmaceutical lawsuits dropped to 74 percent.

However, in 2017, CLC stats show that figure has jumped to an unprecedented 94 percent.

Currently, more than 6,400 cases have been filed in the Risperdal mass tort litigation in Philadelphia and more than 1,560 cases in Xarelto mass tort litigation.

Schroder says it begs the question of why the suits were filed in Philadelphia County, as opposed to York County, Lancaster County or Tioga County instead.

“If Pennsylvania has jurisdiction, then certainly plaintiffs attorneys could bring suit in other parts of the state. The obvious answer is that in most counties other than Philadelphia, a defendant still has a reasonable chance at winning or a reasonable verdict if found liable. Filing suit outside of Philadelphia would not be a lucrative payday for the attorney,” Schroder said.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, Philadelphia Bar Association Chancellor Deborah R. Gross issued a statement criticizing the ATRA report on behalf of the organization, which numbers 12,000 attorney members among its ranks.

“We condemn this unwarranted and degrading attack on our courts, which undermines public confidence in our judicial system. Philadelphia’s courts are among the finest in the country,” Gross stated.

Gross explained per the 2016 First Judicial District Annual Report, approximately 90 percent of civil cases filed in Philadelphia were disposed within 24 months of their initial filing.

“Innovative programs, such as the Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program, Veterans Court, Mental Health Court and Project Dawn have been introduced to address the economic and social problems that plague our city. The Commerce Court program has a well-deserved excellent reputation for its expert handling of business disputes in a timely fashion, with 94 percent of its complex cases being disposed within 24 months of initial filing,” Gross said.

Gross also pointed out the court’s Complex Litigation Center (CLC) had 6,196 total cases pending in 2016, with 5,601 of them being pharmaceutical cases and 595 being asbestos cases.

“These court programs and others serve as models that other court systems seek to emulate. Each year, thousands of Philadelphians – individuals, businesses, plaintiffs and defendants – rely on our courts to deliver fair and speedy justice,” Gross said.

“This special interest group is entitled to its opinion. However, words matter and so do perceptions. The attempt to diminish faith in our judicial system is an attack on our democratic process.

“As guardians of justice, it is our responsibility as lawyers to protect and defend the courts against this unwarranted and baseless label.”

From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nickpennrecord@gmail.com

https://pennrecord.com/stories/511297257-philadelphia-s-hellhole-status-up-for-debate-but-group-points-at-huge-xarelto-verdict

[Read more…] about Philadelphia’s ‘Hellhole’ status up for debate, but group points at huge Xarelto verdict

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Will SCOTUS Ruling Affect Philadelphia Court, Where 94% Of New Plaintiffs Are From Out Of State?

Via Forbes by Nicholas Malfitano | Aug. 17, 2017

Out-of-state plaintiffs flocked to Philadelphia this year to file lawsuits over prescription drugs, but a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision might deter that practice in the future.

Thousands of claimants who have brought their lawsuits in Philadelphia will have to see if pharmaceutical companies like Johnson & Johnson decide to use a June 19 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found an out-of-state plaintiff couldn’t file suit in California.

Supreme Court justices ruled 8-1 in favor of Bristol Myers-Squibb after the company argued plaintiffs living outside California who alleged injury from BMS’s blood thinner Plavix should not be able to sue the company in that state.

The Supreme Court delivered an opinion that, in effect, could spell the end of the all-inclusive view of personal jurisdiction. Plavix was not designed or made in California, and the company is headquartered in New York.

“Non-residents can sue in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas if the defendant is either incorporated in Pennsylvania (not very likely) or has a principal place of business in Pennsylvania (more likely),” said James Beck, Senior Life Sciences Policy Analyst for Reed Smith in Philadelphia.

Two of the biggest mass tort programs in the Philadelphia Complex Litigation Center process lawsuits filed over Risperdal, which is produced by Janssen Pharmaceuticals (a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary) and allegedly causes boys to develop breasts, and Xarelto, a blood-thinner made by Bayer and Johnson & Johnson that allegedly causes bleeding events.

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It’s a New Day–Podcast

Courts need to be fair for everyone.  WFLY’s Kim Kennedy recently dedicated an entire hour of It’s a New Day to discuss changes being considered in Pennsylvania to prevent frivolous lawsuits. Hear the entire discussion on this podcast on how we can make the PA courts make sense and be sure to let us know what you think!