Ohio ranked among the top five states in tort-system efficiency in a new study.

The Pacific Research Institute, a conservate think tank in San Francisco, looked at tort costs and structural and procedural reforms in each state for its U.S. Tort Liability Index. Ohio ranked No. 4. Texas was in the lead, followed by Colorado and North Dakota. Michigan was No. 5.

At the bottom of the list was Vermont, followed by Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania and New York.

The institute said a poor tort system costs businesses money in liability insurance and court fees, leaving them less to spend on wages and employee benefits. It said torts - civil wrongs committed against individuals - cost more than $198 billion nationally each year.

The Association of Trial Lawyers of America dismissed the institute's survey as a "bogus ... right-wing, corporate-funded" study. States that the institute said have highly ranked tort systems make it difficult to pursue a claim against corporations, the association said.

"This is just another phony report bought and paid for by CEOs and big corporations intent on lining their pockets with no regard for its real world impact on people," Ken Suggs, the association's president, said in a statement responding to the study.

Institute representatives were not available immediately for comment.