UPI News, May 11, 2006

DALLAS - Conservative business groups say tort reform in Texas has resulted in the state having the best legal climate in the nation.

The American Justice Partnership and Pacific Research Institute's U.S. Tort Liability Index for 2006 used nearly 40 factors, including monetary tort losses, monetary caps and procedural and structural rules and reforms, the Austin Business Journal reported Thursday.

"State officials and legislators have worked hard during the last 20 years to bring balance and fairness to the Texas judicial system," says Ralph Wayne, president of the Texas Civil Justice League, an affiliate of the American Justice Partnership. "The results speak for themselves. Legal reform is fuel for growth."

The Texas Civil Justice League said Texas became known as the "world's courtroom" during the 1980s, when -- it said -- the state's judicial system was undermined by frivolous lawsuits and exorbitant jury awards.

Recent state legislative action produced reforms in key areas, including asbestos and silica litigation, class-action cases, "forum shopping," joint and several liability, medical malpractice and punitive damages, the league said.

The American Justice Partnership is an arm of the National Association of Manufacturers.