Every year in the United States, the first week of October is observed as Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week. This week serves as an important opportunity to raise awareness about the high cost of frivolous lawsuits not only on small businesses owners, but on all Americans of all backgrounds.
Lawsuit abuse impacts everyone, but it is especially painful here in the Prairie State. According to a report published by The Perryman Group, lawsuit abuse cost Illinois taxpayers more than $12 billion in 2021 and impacted more than 192,000 jobs. This week should serve as an important reminder to our elected leaders that our state’s civil justice system needs serious fixing.
Sadly, this past year has included record-setting inflation, excessive regulatory overreach, and weak economic recovery. As families struggle to rebound after having the doors to their businesses forcibly shut for over two years, Illinois ought to clear the way for recovery by curbing the rampant lawsuit abuse that continues to plague our local communities.
My family-owned manufacturing business has been serving Lyons for four generations. As many other local companies can attest, enduring the collective economic turmoil has been exceedingly difficult, even before factoring in the costs of lawsuit abuse.
Witnessing so many local businesses, cornerstones to our community, unable to survive even as the pandemic seems to subside, is a grave travesty. Family-operated enterprises employ thousands of individuals, hold up our local economies, and spur innovation and investment. Legislators supposedly acknowledge this but remain incredibly hesitant toward fighting against lawsuit abuse, which saps communities of economic strength when we need all the power we can muster.
For far too long, Illinois has not only allowed lawsuit abuse but carved out sections of our civil justice system where it can thrive. State manufacturing laws, for instance, are overly complicated, are anti-business, and hamper our state's manufacturing industry when competing with other states. In many cases, running a business in Illinois is like treading as carefully as possible in a room filled with lawsuit trip wires. Undeserving lawsuits can come for anyone, and the consequences directly hurt employees, consumers and local economies.
Product liability lawsuits are another example of how ludicrous our legal system has become. Predatory trial lawyers have built an empire by blaming manufacturers for "product-related injuries" even if the product is approved safe or the user doesn't abide by instruction labels. It doesn't matter if a manufacturer took all the proper precautions. If greedy trial lawyers find a chance to shake down a business, they will jump at the opportunity.
The exploitation of anti-arbitration statutes forcing worker's compensation outside courtrooms is another example of the legal mess small businesses face. I can attest that safety is always a number one priority for manufacturing companies, but some accidents are unavoidable. Many of these businesses cannot afford legal fees, so trial lawyers will dangle the prospect of an economically ruinous lawsuit over them to coerce private settlements. Liability or fault doesn't even have to be proven to take a business's hard-earned savings, which can lead to layoffs, price increases or even closing shop forever.
Too many trial lawyers are pursuing personal enrichment instead of true justice. The law in our state grants far too much freedom in helping them in this pursuit. We need to end this type of legalized exploitation right now for the sake of everyone in the state of Illinois. Product liability loopholes must be closed, and mediated arbitration should be restored.
As our state grapples with economic stagflation with no foreseeable end in sight, fighting lawsuit abuse committed by self-interest trial lawyers would be one of the best ways to give Illinois the jumpstart we need to grow our prosperity.
Zach Mottl is the 4th generation of his family to own and operate Atlas Tool Works, Inc.