During the next Congress it will once again launch its campaign to slip lawsuit-expanding provisions into all types of legislation, including financial regulatory reforms.
Lisa Rickard, President, ILR

If plaintiffs' lawyers convince the next Congress to enact massive lawsuit-expanding legislation next year, the added costs will slow America's economic recovery, according to speakers at this week's 9th Annual Legal Reform Summit hosted by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform's (ILR).

ILR unveiled data yesterday from an interim report providing insight into the experience of American businesses with discovery in civil litigation. The interim report, titled "The State of Discovery Abuse in Civil Litigation," demonstrates that the discovery process is overly expensive and being abused.

"If we hope to fully restore our economy, we cannot allow lawsuits to siphon off money that should be used to help our country recover," said U.S. Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue. "We cannot sue our way to prosperity. We cannot sue our way to job growth. We cannot sue our way out of an economic crisis. And we cannot sue our way to better regulation."

"For the trial lawyers' lobby, this Congress was only a dress rehearsal," said ILR President Lisa Rickard, noting the 46 liability-expanding bills and provisions introduced in the current congressional session. "During the next Congress it will once again launch its campaign to slip lawsuit-expanding provisions into all types of legislation, including financial regulatory reforms. The last thing our country needs is more lawsuits."