CHARLESTON – National and statewide tort reform groups are praising West Virginia lawmakers for work on the COVID-19 immunity legislation that could be on the governor’s desk soon.
CHARLESTON – A West Virginia group committed to protected the 7th Amendment right to jury trial says the state Senate’s COVID-19 immunity bill is too broad and could take away citizens’ rights.
CHARLESTON – There are many uncertainties as the 2021 West Virginia legislative session begins, but a few perennial legal reform ideas will be considered.
The American Tort Reform Association says Republican incumbent Patrick Morrisey has declined to sign its Attorney General Transparency Code pledge and its 2020 State Attorney General Candidate Questionnaire while Democratic challenger Sam Brown Petsonk has yet to respond.
CHARLESTON – A statewide legal reform group says a "shady" and "sketchy outside group" is trying to be the state Supreme Court election. But a spokeswoman for the political action committee in question says it's the group fighting "corrupting influences of out-of-state money."
Dear Editor: Just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered our economy and will surely spawn nearly endless litigation, Judge Ron Wilson issued an order in his asbestos docket that is worth reviewing.
As businesses across West Virginia slowly begin to reopen, some do so with the fear of litigation. State Sen. Eric Tarr (R-Putnam) said he fears his and other small businesses across the state will be vulnerable to advantageous trial attorneys.
CHARLESTON – Businesses of all types are learning to adjust and adapt amidst the Coronavirus pandemic. That includes attorneys and law firms. But some people – including fellow lawyers – have called out some trial attorneys for advertising their services during the pandemic.
CHARLESTON – State lawmakers and others are discussing legislation to provide some sort of immunity to health care providers, businesses and others who have remained open during the Coronavirus pandemic. A group for trial attorneys, however, say the legislation is politically motivated and unnecessary.
CHARLESTON – State Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Trump feels so strongly about the creation of an intermediate appellate court that he took time to go to a House of Delegates public hearing to share his thoughts.
CHARLESTON – A legal reform group hails the state Senate passage of a bill that would create an intermediate court of appeals, but a group for trial attorneys still hopes the bill won’t become law.
CHARLESTON – As the 2020 legislative session gets into gear, it seems the creation of an intermediate appellate court again will be the top legal reform topic facing lawmakers.
WASHINGTON – For the fourth consecutive year, West Virginia finds itself on the Watch List for the American Tort Reform Association's annual Judicial Hellholes report. In its report, released Dec. 10, ATRA cites instability as the reason for putting the state Supreme Court on watch.
“No one wants to bring back the bad old days of jackpot justice, including when Richard Neely was on the court. West Virginians don’t want more runaway verdicts and embarrassing actions and rhetoric from greedy personal injury lawyers like Richard Neely.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – West Virginia ranks 45th in the nation for lawsuit climate, according to a new survey released by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. The survey, released Sept. 18, shows the Mountain State in the same spot it was in the last survey from 2017.
