Guest Column: Florida must continue to make strides in fighting lawsuit abuse

This year the Florida Legislature made a critical step toward addressing one of the state's most pressing issues: lawsuit abuse in Florida's insurance industry.

By passing Assignment of Benefits reform, legislators made a resounding statement that Florida will no longer tolerate backdoor dealings between lawyers and contractors to inflate claims and sue Florida's insurance companies for huge sums.

For years lawyers have taken advantage of loopholes in our insurance and legal systems to bring big-money lawsuits against insurance companies -- and it has affected everyone.

As insurance companies look to offset the costs of fighting frivolous lawsuits, rates rise and insurance gets more expensive for every Floridian. In addition small businesses are in court for ridiculous reasons, causing problems for the entire economy.

In a new report Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse estimates that Florida loses 126,139 jobs every year due to lawsuit abuse, and the state faces $7.6 billion in annual costs as a result. In the Jacksonville area, according to the report, frivolous lawsuits cost more than $452 million and 7,511 jobs each year.

Few companies have the resources to offset the costs associated with frivolous litigation; the rest have little choice but to raise prices or close their doors.

Assignment of Benefits reform alone will not fix this problem. We must hold our leaders accountable to preempt the trial lawyers' newest tactics to exploit our courts for quick payouts.

With plenty of cases filed every year over accuracy in damages claims, workers' compensation suits, premises liability claims and more, the lawsuit abuse problem won't be quickly solved.

That's why we Floridians must continue to make it clear that we will no longer tolerate lawsuit abuse in Florida.

Jimmy Maxwell is the vice chair of Floridians for Government Accountability, which is based in Tallahassee.

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