Pennsylvania Coalition for Civil Justice Reform
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PCCJR asks state Supreme Court committee for report on impact of med-mal venue rule change
HARRISBURG – A legal reform group has asked a Supreme Court of Pennsylvania committee to immediately issue a report on the impact of its decision to allow plaintiffs greater flexibility in where to file medical malpractice cases, nearly six months after the rule change went into effect. -
Health care officials testify that med-mal venue rules rescission may cause another liability crisis
HARRISBURG – A group of health care officials testified before a complement of Republican state congressional representatives on Monday that a recent Supreme Court of Pennsylvania committee decision to allow plaintiffs greater flexibility in where to file medical malpractice cases, may have the ability to create another medical liability crisis statewide. -
Pa. House Judiciary Committee Chair introduces constitutional amendment to establish civil case venue
HARRISBURG – The Chairman of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Judiciary Committee has introduced legislation to amend Pennsylvania’s constitution to prohibit venue shopping in medical liability cases, a potential game-changer for civil litigation statewide if it were to be passed. -
ALI members question foundations of recently passed Restatement of Consumer Contracts
WASHINGTON – Subsequent to the American Law Institute’s approval of a Restatement for law related to Consumer Contracts earlier this week, two of the group’s members expressed concerns that the document may be a step in the wrong direction for the legacy of the venerable legal scholarship group. -
ALI approves controversial Restatement of Consumer Contracts at its annual meeting
WASHINGTON – At its annual meeting this week, the Philadelphia-based American Law Institute voted to approve a Restatement intended to give legal clarity to consumer contracts – a project which has been subject to controversy, since its foundation is said to diverge from established contract law in some respects. -
ALI's Consumer Contracts Restatement may come up for approval vote this year, despite increasing concerns
PHILADELPHIA – At a virtual meeting this week, the Philadelphia-based American Law Institute is scheduled to continue work on a Restatement meant to give legal clarity to consumer contracts – a project yielding “significant concerns,” according to a member of the legal scholarship organization, especially since it may come up for a final vote at the group’s annual meeting this spring. -
Pa. House passes broad COVID-19 liability protections bill for businesses, now headed to Senate
HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has passed a broad-based liability shield for the COVID-19 pandemic for commercial businesses and health care entities statewide, in a bill that would protect them from lawsuit claims related to coronavirus exposure. -
Pa. groups call for protection from coronavirus lawsuits for health care, reopened businesses
HARRISBURG – Leaders of multiple entities representing legal reform, business and health care interests statewide are pushing for the provision of safe harbor professional liability protections from the state to individuals and businesses responding to the coronavirus pandemic, in order for the state economy to quicken its recovery once the state re-opens. -
Health care providers get relief from coronavirus lawsuits as Wolf signs order
HARRISBURG – Following the example of more than a dozen other states, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf signed an executive order on Wednesday granting civil immunity from liability to health care providers taking good faith actions in responding to the coronavirus pandemic. -
Coronavirus roundup: States pass lawsuit-protection measures as Pennsylvania resists
ATLANTA – As the nation continues to persevere through the coronavirus pandemic, more states are continuing to pass legal immunity protections for health care providers and in the ones which have yet do to so, a groundswell of support for such action is building. -
Pennsylvania leaders haven't protected health care providers from coronavirus lawsuits
HARRISBURG – As the coronavirus pandemic continues, Pennsylvania lawmakers are being called out by a civil justice reform group for not following the example of other states and providing legal immunity for those responding to the crisis. -
Business groups hope Pennsylvania Supreme Court breaks from pro-plaintiffs string of decisions
HARRISBURG – In the lead-up to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania hearing arguments on Hammons v. Ethicon, Inc. next week, an amicus brief attached to six organizations representing tort reform and business interests in the state says recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings governing personal jurisdiction are being ignored. -
Pa. Supreme Court considers itself a 'Super Legislature,' says civil justice group
HARRISBURG – The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s recent decision that the Fair Share Act does not apply to asbestos lawsuits is another example of the court showing off its power over legislators who enacted tort reform measures, the head of a state civil justice group says. -
Business leaders say AG Shapiro's proposed False Claims Act comes at taxpayers' expense
HARRISBURG – A five-bill effort to reduce Medicaid fraud in Pennsylvania through a state False Claims Act is already meeting with opposition from business groups, health care providers and civil justice reformers who say the state’s proposed method will be at the expense of patients and taxpayers and mostly benefit lawyers and whistleblowers. -
Pennsylvania health care groups fight Supreme Court ruling that gave plaintiffs longer to sue
HARRISBURG – Several Pennsylvania health care organizations, business groups and the attorneys representing them have joined forces in filing a brief seeking reconsideration of a key state Supreme Court decision that found the seven-year limit on filing medical malpractice lawsuits was “unconstitutional.” -
Pa. Supreme Court urged to require trial judges to question witnesses' credentials
PHILADELPHIA – A prominent science law attorney has authored an amicus brief on behalf of 11 organizations interjecting themselves in a fight before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, connected to determining quality of expert witnesses by the Frye standard in trial courts. -
Business groups warn against changing medical malpractice rules as Supreme Court accepts comments on proposal
PHILADELPHIA – Though any action on a Supreme Court of Pennsylvania committee proposal to change venue guidelines governing medical malpractice litigation statewide has been delayed until a legislative group completes a study on the matter, several prominent organizations submitted comments on the proposal before its tabling. -
Supreme Court considers overriding 2002 med-mal reform; Groups warn it could create another health care crisis
HARRISBURG – Venue guidelines governing medical malpractice litigation statewide which were brought into law through 2002’s Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error (MCARE) Act may be abandoned by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s Civil Procedural Rules Committee. -
Pa. civil litigation reform groups, Philly Bar spar over ATRA's 'Judicial Hellholes' report
PHILADELPHIA – With Philadelphia's Court of Common Pleas and the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania once again being featured on the American Tort Reform Association’s annual “Judicial Hellholes” and “Watch List," reactions among civil litigation reform groups and Philadelphia's Bar remain adversarial. -
Groups don't want Pa. Supreme Court to create Fair Share Act exception for asbestos lawsuits
HARRISBURG – Business and legal reform groups are calling on the state Supreme Court to uphold a specific application of a law that governs how defendants split the check when a plaintiff verdict comes in - opposing a so-called "carve-out" that would keep the law from applying to asbestos cases..