Denver Business Journal, March 11, 2008

A ranking released Tuesday says Colorado has the best tort laws in the nation.

The ranking by the Pacific Research Institute of San Francisco compared the legal climates of each state in a report titled "U.S. Tort Liability Index: 2008 Report."

But the report classified Colorado as "salvageable" because of monetary tort losses and litigation risks in the state, and ranked Colorado No. 42. Florida was ranked the worst and North Dakota the best.

In a separate ranking, Colorado was ranked first for tort laws adopted by the state Legislature. (Rhode Island had the worst, according to the report.) For instance, Colorado has put a cap on non-economic damages of $250,000 and bars damages in breach-of-contract claims unless spelled out in the contract.

Because of the wide gap Colorado has between Pacific Research Institute's view of the tort laws and the litigation risks, the state is considered salvageable. "If the rules are implemented as written on the books, the salvageables are positioned to do a better job of containing their tort liability costs ..." the report noted.