David Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA), said that “tort litigation really is a suck in the economy” and “we can’t afford that.”
His comments come after a report released in January said litigation in Georgia creates a "tort tax" of $5,592 for a family of four.
“Lawyers, and especially tort litigation, really is a suck in the economy,” Williams told the “Business of America” podcast. “We can't afford that.”
“We have inflation that's still really high,” said Williams. “Congress absolutely has a role in this and really should be looking at this and putting some guardrails around the litigation.”
A report conducted by The Perryman Group for Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse this January said that litigation in Georgia creates a “tort tax” of $5,592 a year for a family of four. That’s an increase from $4,855 in the prior year’s report.
Georgia also was ranked as the #1 “Judicial Hellhole” in the U.S., according to an annual report released by Americans for Tort Reform (ATRA). The ATRA report said that the state’s ranking is due, in part, to “nuclear verdicts” and “an archaic seatbelt gag rule that precludes a jury from hearing evidence about whether an occupant wore a seatbelt at the time of a crash.”
ATRA President Sherman "Tiger" Joyce said this can “lead to higher insurance rates, increased consumer costs, and job loss in the long term”
Williams has been president of TPA since the organization’s founding in 2011. TPA is a nonprofit educational and advocacy organization that conducts research and analysis on various aspects of government spending and taxation. The organization engages in a range of activities, including publishing reports, organizing campaigns, and providing commentary on fiscal matters.