New York trial lawyers lobby against auto insurance reforms

(The Center Square) — Legal watchdog groups are accusing New York trial lawyers of funneling millions of dollars into democratic lawmakers’ political campaigns in an effort to stall Gov. Kathy Hochul’s crackdown on auto insurance fraud.

The American Tort Reform Association said the New York State Trial Lawyers Association contributed nearly $6.5 million to state lawmakers between 2022 and 2025, including sizable contributions to political action committees controlled by Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

"It’s no surprise that wealthy lawyers who benefit most from the status quo are fighting tooth and nail to keep the cash machine flowing to pad their pockets — and to maintain their influence in Albany," said Lauren Sheets Jarrell, the association’s vice president and counsel for civil justice policy. "While they’re dumping millions into political campaigns and TV ads to squeeze more out of everyone else, hardworking families pay for their greed."

The campaign contributions were highlighted in a recent report by the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York, which said trial lawyers have fueled a "fraudemic" of bogus claims with TV ads and are now pouring money into efforts to maintain the status quo in Albany.

"New Yorkers are being gaslit by their elected representatives at the request of the ambulance chaser lobby," Tom Stebbins, the group's executive director, said in a statement. "Every family, local government, trucking company, grocery store owner, and farmer knows that their insurance costs are out of control and the sensational trial lawyer billboards on the highway are a big piece of the puzzle."

"It’s time to shake the stink of past plaintiffs' lawyer influence schemes and shenanigans and get on board with these reforms," he added. "Legislators need to serve their constituents, not their trial lawyer donors."

Hochul's plans call for cracking down on auto fraud by toughening state regulations, ramping up investigations of alleged insurance fraud, and targeting physicians who provide bogus diagnoses for victims of staged crashes.

Hochul's proposal, unveiled as part of her budget, would revive the defunct state Motor Vehicle Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Board and empower it to investigate and prosecute insurance fraud. The plan also calls for legal action against New York drivers who illegally register their vehicles in other states, which critics say artificially decreases insurance coverage and raises costs.

"Gov. Hochul is offering commonsense solutions to crack down on fraud and make New York more affordable for everyone, and instead of doing something that might help their constituents, lawmakers are siding with politically connected trial attorneys," Sheets Jarrell said.

New Yorkers pay some of the highest car insurance rates in the nation, totaling just over $4,000 annually on average, nearly $1,500 above the national average, according to state and federal data. Government and industry groups say insurance rates are driven up by a combination of fraud, litigation, legal loopholes and enforcement gaps.

On Tuesday, the delivery giant FedEx filed a lawsuit against a New York law firm, accusing it of orchestrating a multi-million dollar scheme that used staged car accidents to drive up insurance payouts. The company filed a lawsuit under a RICO statute, which is normally used by prosecutors to target organized crime.