Responding To The Latest From The Palmetto State’s Plaintiffs’ Bar
March 17, 2009
In a guest column in today’s edition of South Carolina’s The State, Pete Strom, president of the South Carolina trial lawyers association, claims the Palmetto state has “benefited from its good reputation for an efficient, fair, cost-effective judicial system.”
But business owners and business managers disagree.
In its most recent survey of business leaders, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranks South Carolina near the bottom, 43rd worst in the nation. When it comes to the impartiality and fairness of a state’s judges, South Carolina came in 44th in both categories. Although Governor Mark Sanford has enacted several important legal reforms, “pro-plaintiffs’ bar legislators continue to dominate the judicial nominations process,” according to the “2008 State Litigation Guide” published by Directorship magazine.
If Mr. Strom is serious about enhancing South Carolina’s reputation as a good place to do business, he should support legislation (S.350 and H.3489) to make the state’s courts more fair and predictable by establishing reasonable limits on non-economic damages. Cam Crawford of South Carolina Civil Justice Coalition recently wrote an important guest post on this reform legislation and how it will help South Carolina. You can find it here. Somehow I doubt Mr. Strom’s endorsement will be forthcoming, since trial lawyers specialize in redistributing wealth instead of creating it.