CHARLESTON – The executive director of a statewide legal reform group has dubbed the just-completed regular session of the West Virginia Legislature the “worst session ever.”
Greg Thomas, executive director of West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, said the big winner of the session was the personal injury lawsuit industry.
“Not only did no significant legal reform pass, but dozens of new causes of action made progress through the legislative process,” Thomas said. “The leadership in the state Senate reflected the interests of the personal injury bar, which has been a significant contributor in recent cycles.
Thomas
| File photo
“Even candidates who identified as conservative appeared to align with those interests once in office.”
Thomas noted state Senator Patricia Rucker (R-Jefferson), whose campaign took $20,000 from personal injury attorney interests, according to CALA research. Thomas says Rucker “joined forces quite often” in the Senate Judiciary Committee with Sen. Joey Garcia (D-Marion), who topped the CALA list of lawmakers whose campaigns took money from personal injury attorney interests, just ahead of Rucker.
“Nothing was done this session to create jobs,” Thomas said. “Nothing was done to fix the issues with BRIM. Nothing was done to improve access to affordable healthcare in West Virginia.
“The only thing this particular group of politicians accomplished was to create opportunities to make their campaign contributors even wealthier. Shame on the 2025 State Senate.”
The president of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce called the session a mixed bag.
“The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce was encouraged by the passage of several key measures this session that point to supporting economic development, including HB 2711 (extending the rule of perpetuities for trusts up to 1,000 years), SB 458 (Professional and Occupational Licensing Act), and HB 2002 (the ‘one-stop-shop’ permitting dashboard) and HB 3111 (judicial pay raises),” Steve Roberts told The West Virginia Record. “These initiatives mark positive steps toward fostering a more business-friendly environment in the state.
“However, we are disappointed that critical issues such as foster care, child care, and education were not meaningfully addressed. Additionally, we are concerned by an onslaught of legislation emerging from the Senate aimed at expanding opportunities for litigation against individuals and employers. Bills such as SB 460 (relating to vaccines), SB 663 (the so-called de-banking bill), SB 850 (subjecting private employers to lawsuits for their personnel policies) represent troubling shifts away from policies that promote economic growth and stability.”
The president of a statewide group for trial attorneys said his group worked to ensure the civil justice system was accessible and fair for everyone.
“Before the session started, I said that our organization would work with lawmakers, business leaders, and others to ensure accessibility and fairness, and that's exactly what we did” Steven R. Broadwater Jr., president of the West Virginia Association for Justice, told The Record. “The fact of that matter is that we have established ourselves as a positive force for compromise that benefits everyone. When we're involved, good work gets done.
“For instance, liability insurance for restaurant and bar owners who serve alcohol has become an issue because it’s so expensive that many are operating without insurance. Because we were involved from the beginning, we were able put together a compromise bill that addressed everyone's concerns by clarifying the potential cause of action and requiring minimum policies so that the public can continue to be protected from those who may become overserved.”
He said that works both ways though.
“On the other hand, there were a number of bad bills that died unceremonious deaths because the parties pushing those bills refused to even consider working with us on compromise,” Broadwater said. “Those bills would have put the public at risk, and I'm happy those dangerous bills died so quickly.”
Broadwater said the WVAJ “will always do what it can to make our civil justice system better by balancing legitimate industry concerns with protecting fellow citizens.”
“Fundamental to that effort is countering the political front groups like CALA and ATRA (the American Tort Reform Association), who are funded by globalist billionaires who would lock West Virginia citizens and small businesses out of the courthouse to pad their executive pockets,” he said. “We will continue to fight their efforts, regardless of how many fake studies they continue to publish.”