HOUSTON, July 17, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- TLR Chairman and CEO Richard Weekley issued a statement today in response to press reports that the dismissal of the notorious $54 million "pants lawsuit" against family-owned dry cleaners has now been appealed.
"This lawsuit has outraged the public because it is a harsh reminder that outrageous litigation threatens American businesses, large and small, every day, costing billions annually and tearing at the fabric of our society," Weekley said.
Weekley cited a recent report by the Pacific Research Institute which found that the U.S. lawsuit-driven legal system costs a family of four $9,827 a year -- what PRI called a "Tort Tax." National litigation costs are $865 billion a year -- $2.4 billion a day.
Weekley said that although lawsuit reforms have helped reduce meritless lawsuits in Texas, lawsuit abuse persists.
He noted that, just last week, parents of a Yorktown, Texas teen announced they would sue the school district because their daughter was dropped from the cheerleading squad. In Washington State, Caterpillar Tractor is being sued for an accident at a protest rally in Gaza because, they said, "the company should have known the bulldozers it sold ...would be used to commit human rights violations." And in Detroit, an auto parts company announced it would remain in bankruptcy as a result of 330,000 asbestos lawsuits that were filed against it in 2001.
"We believe everyone is entitled to his or her day in court, but no one is entitled to $54 million for a lost pair of pants," Weekley said.
Texans for Lawsuit Reform, the state's largest civil justice reform organization, is a bipartisan, volunteer-led coalition with nearly 16,000 supporters residing in more than 818 Texas communities and representing 1,266 different businesses, professions and trades.
The Texans for Lawsuit Reform logo is available at http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2570