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an hour ago
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Last-ditch attempt at tort reform in Texas falls short as second bill fails
The last-ditch attempt that the Texas trucking industry had at tort reform in the now-ended legislative session died in a House committee earlier this week. After seeing one other bill die in committee last week, the Texas Trucking Association had hopes that one other piece of legislation – SB30 in the Senate and its companion bill in the House, HB 4806 – might make it through the last few days of the biennial legislative session that ended Monday. But the push came up short. While SB30 was passed by the full Senate, HB 4806 ended the session still on the agenda in the House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence failure meant that the Texas Trucking Association (TTA) and other Texas groups went zero for two in tort reform efforts this session. The original version of SB 30 would have made significant changes in the financial penalties that could be levied against a defendant in a lawsuit involving injury. But in a report on the bill from the San Antonio Express News, the newspaper said the death of SB30/HB4806 'came after it already had been pared down to an unrecognizable version that only required disclosure of referrals between lawyers and health care providers. It also would have expanded the options for what evidence could be admitted to estimate damages.' John Esparaza, the CEO of the TTA, issued his second statement in just a few days expressing his disappointment at the outcome of the legislative push.'While the outcome is a setback for all of us who are committed to protecting Texas businesses from abusive litigation practices, TXTA and our partners at the Lone Star Economic Alliance plan to continue to fight for a fair and balanced legal system in Texas,' he said. 'The fact is that fraud in our state continues to grow, enriching a handful of unethical plaintiff attorneys and complicit medical providers who exploit their own clients. As long as the legislature permits it, the miracle of the Texas economy will keep fading. The greatest irony? Highway safety declines as drivers and companies who built careers on making our highways safer leave the industry and are replaced by those unqualified to operate a big rig.' Besides the Texas Trucking Association, another organization that had been deeply involved in the efforts at tort reform in the just-completed session was Texans for Lawsuit Reform, which is part of the Lone Star Economic Alliance mentioned by Esparaza. It released a statement following the end of the session, lamenting the demise of both SB30 and SB39 a week earlier. SB30 dealt mostly with damages, while SB39 was more focused on various rules of the road in litigation. The reforms in the bill, the organization said, 'would have been an essential step toward curbing the meritless lawsuits plaguing Texas businesses of all sizes, across all sectors, by preventing unjustified damage awards, and restoring fairness and transparency to the courtroom.' Noting the similar path of both bill pairings – passed by the Senate, stuck in a House committee – the organization said 'disagreement on final language in the conference committee kept the bill from making it over the finish line.' 'We urge the Texas Legislature to prioritize this issue in the 90th Texas Legislative Session, and to put an end to the blatant fraud on the legal system which jeopardizes Texas's longstanding reputation as the best place in the nation to do business and create jobs,' TLR said in its prepared statement. More articles by John Kingston Georgia tort reform aims to change practices in judicial 'hell hole'A Lego approach helps prepare Manhattan Associates' TMS for tariff chaos BMO's Q2 earnings show no improvement in credit conditions for trucking The post Last-ditch attempt at tort reform in Texas falls short as second bill fails appeared first on FreightWaves.
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a day ago
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Personal injury, trucking lawsuit bills die
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A pair of bills backed by Texans for Lawsuit Reform, aimed at reducing large jury verdicts in personal injury and trucking accident cases, died this legislative session. Senate Bill 30 — filed with the goal of 'curbing nuclear verdicts' — and Senate Bill 39 were two of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's priority bills for this legislative session. Under SB 30, a jury would have heard if an attorney referred their client — and others over the past two years — to a specific doctor. That provider would have had to submit an affidavit that treatment was reasonable and disclose any agreement guaranteeing they are reimbursed for treatment costs in a settlement. Medical expenses would be reimbursed based off rates paid by Medicare and workers' compensation insurance. Critics said the bill would have required victims to introduce evidence unrelated to their case or care and could have unintentionally made it harder for sexual assault survivors to hold abusers accountable. Deadly truck crash foreshadows fight between business, safety at Capitol The bill was amended in the House, but those changes were not approved by the Senate. 'Today, a kind of fraud is occurring in courtrooms across Texas, as personal injury attorneys and collaborative doctors manufacture medical bills and present them to jurors as if they are legitimate,' said TLR President Lee Parsley. 'This unethical activity is increasing insurance premiums for every business operating in Texas. Ultimately, the increased cost of doing business is being paid by every Texan. We are disappointed the legislature did not enact laws necessary to stop this well-documented, barely hidden abuse of our legal system.' Another bill, SB 39, took aim at commercial vehicle lawsuits. Patrick said the bill was about 'protecting Texas trucking.' Critics said it would have presented new legal hurdles to make it harder for injured victims to introduce evidence about a company's alleged negligence. Debate about the bill occurred at the same time a truck driver was arrested for causing an 18-vehicle pileup on Interstate 35 in north Austin, killing five people and injuring 11 others, according to Austin Police. Last year, a KXAN investigation first revealed the intention of TLR and a coalition of businesses to back bills this legislative session aimed at lawsuit reforms as a way to stop what it called 'nuclear verdicts' and bring down rising insurance rates. 'For four decades, Texans' legal rights have been under constant assault by corporate lobbyists at the Texas Capitol. This session, lawmakers said 'no more,' rejecting SB 30 and SB 39,' countered consumer advocate Ware Wendell, with the nonpartisan group Texas Watch. 'The bills' backers sought to undermine the Rules of Evidence, putting their thumbs on the scales of justice. Juries deserve to hear the whole truth upfront, and judges deserve to rule on these matters. Our independent judiciary was protected when these bills died.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
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Texas bill, a trucking priority for tort reform, dies in House committee
Legislation that passed the Texas Senate last month and that the trucking industry believed would bring about 'much-needed reforms' in trucking-related lawsuits has died in the House. But another piece of legislation backed by the industry, SB30, and its companion bill, HB 4806, are still considered alive as the Texas state legislative session races toward its Monday conclusion. The companion House bill to SB39, approved in April, was HB 4688. It was referred to the Committee for Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence. While the House of Representatives' docket for the legislation shows several steps at the committee, including public hearings, there is no vote on the list of no action taken on the bill in recent days, barring a miraculous turn of events, the bill is considered dead in the Texas Legislature, which meets every two years. When the bill passed in the Senate, it was hailed by the Texas Trucking Association. In a prepared statement released at the time, TTA President John Esparaza said the legislation 'marks a significant step forward in protecting the integrity of our legal system and Texas trucking industry.' 'This bill introduces much-needed reforms to how commercial motor vehicle collision cases are handled in Texas courts,' he said at the time. 'These reforms will establish fair, consistent, and statewide standards, helping to ensure that justice is applied equally across the state.' But in a statement released to FreightWaves Thursday, Esparaza conceded defeat for this session.'SB 39 was an important piece of our tort reform package …,' he said in the statement. 'As a priority…we are disappointed that SB 39 died in the House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee and will not become law this session.' In a commentary about what SB39 and its companion House bill would have accomplished, attorneys for the law firm of Lewis Brisbois touched on several key points. One change would have minimized questions about the background of the driver, according to the law firm. 'Where defendant trucking companies have already stipulated to their drivers being in the course and scope of employment, plaintiffs' attorneys can no longer inflame juries with arguments about the trucking companies' actions when they have no causal/legal relationship with the harms alleged,' Lewis Brisbois said. 'In other words, if a case goes on to trial, then the jury should solely be focused on the actions of the drivers involved in the incident.' SB39 also was the vehicle that the TTA spoke of last year in trying to complete the unfinished work of HB 19, passed in 2021 but generally seen as not providing the relief in litigation that trucking attorneys had expected. In an interview last year with FreightWaves, Lee Parsley, general counsel for Texans for Lawsuit Reform (TLS), said one of the goals of HB 19 was to give new emphasis to the 'admission rule.' Last year, Parsley said of that rule: 'It basically says that if I, as the employer, agree to accept responsibility for my employees' actions that may have caused the injury, it is supposed to simplify the trial. You don't need to go down the rabbit hole of figuring out things like negligent hiring and negligent training. It's supposed to simplify it so that in the trial, you're just focused on who actually caused the accident and what the damages are at that point.' The Lewis Brisbois commentary said SB39 would have 'recognized the admissions rule by eliminating key exceptions.' Quoting a precedent involving Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN), the attorneys said the admission rule clarifies that an 'employer's admission that an employee was acting in the course and scope of their employment when the employee allegedly engaged in negligent conduct bars a party allegedly injured by the employee's negligence from pursuing derivative theories of negligence against the employer.' That citation quoted by the attorneys is from the case of Blake vs. Werner, the nuclear verdict initially handed down in 2018 and which now awaits a decision by the Texas Supreme Court following oral arguments in December. The original verdict, less than $90 million, has ballooned to more than $100 million with case involves the death and injuries in a family that crossed the median strip in bad winter weather in West Texas and collided with a Werner truck headed the other direction. The jury verdict that the Werner driver should have been going slower in that weather and would therefore not have been in position to slam into the oncoming vehicle has been a particular source of anger within trucking. But the Blake family involved in the crash won at trial and on appeal before it headed to the state's highest court. The Lewis Brisbois commentary said the critics of SB39 'have voiced concerns that this change will further stifle plaintiffs' abilities to ensure that juries consider all parties and trucking companies' own liability in the harms by alleged company misdeeds.' There is still hope at the TTA for SB30, which seeks to limit various types of payouts in crashes involving trucks through a variety of steps. Like SB39, SB30 passed the Senate. It is considered to have life as HB 4806 before the end of the legislative session. 'We will continue to pursue tort reform in SB30, however, as we head into the weekend and our final day of session on Monday, June 2,' Esparaza said. HB 4806, is still listed as being in committee in the House. In a blog post from the law firm of Varghese Summersett, which among other activities represents plaintiffs suing trucking companies, the firm summed up the key points in the legislation. It would place caps on economic damages, the firm said. It restricts payouts only to amounts paid by the plaintiffs rather than what was billed by the providers of health care services to the plaintiffs. It makes changes in rules of evidence and also changes various liability standards. A jury must be unanimous in settling on noneconomic standards. There is also a shift in defining interest charges. In a summary of SB30 published by TLS, the organization said the combined SB30/HB 4806 'guides jurors with fair and consistent rules for awarding noneconomic damages, ensuring they are truly compensatory.' Among the provisions in the bill, according to TLS, are that the legislation 'gives jurors understandable definitions of pain and suffering and mental anguish and clear instructions that those damages should be based on the plaintiff's injury — not the defendant's conduct that is unrelated to the incident being litigated — and cannot be used to punish a defendant.' More articles by John Kingston Georgia tort reform aims to change practices in judicial 'hell hole' A Lego approach helps prepare Manhattan Associates' TMS for tariff chaos BMO's Q2 earnings show no improvement in credit conditions for trucking The post Texas bill, a trucking priority for tort reform, dies in House committee appeared first on FreightWaves.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Business
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Crash caused by commercial driver? Employer's liability may be limited in Texas Senate bill
AUSTIN, Texas (KETK) — Should employers be on the hook when their commercial drivers crash? Texas SB 39 says not always, as it aims to limit what evidence can be shown in a civil lawsuit when their drivers cause a crash. SB 39 could limit certain claims, such as negligent hiring, training or supervision, making it harder to hold the company directly responsible. If passed, an employer could only be sued for the driver's actions, not for their hiring, training, or supervision. The bill could make it harder for crash victims to get better compensation. Polk County Jail resorts to moving inmates to Louisiana amid staffing, overcrowding issues The bill was created to reduce litigation costs and speed up trials; however, the Sheriff's Association of Texas opposes the bill due to safety concerns. In a letter published in May, the association requests senators and representatives to oppose the bill. They argue it would increase safety risks deputies face, such as when responding to crashes or investigating wrecks involving large trucks. The Sheriffs' Association of Texas President and Franklin County Sheriff Ricky Jones emphasized the danger SB 39 could cause. 'Our deputies are often the first to respond to deadly crashes involving commercial vehicles,' Jones said. 'We've seen firsthand how these tragedies often result from repeat safety violations and reckless business practices. SB 39 would make it harder to hold these dangerous trucking companies accountable.' In 2024, the association said Texas recorded 18,926 crashes involving large commercial trucks, and of those, 720 resulted in fatalities and 11,109 in injuries. 'This bill doesn't make our roads safer, and it doesn't help law enforcement,' Jones said. 'Instead, it protects bad actors and puts Texas families and first responders at greater risk.' However, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick supports the bill, claiming it would help cut costs across the board. 'The explosion of lawsuits (many of them frivolous) against trucking companies in Texas has caused insurance rates to skyrocket, hurting Texans and our businesses. By passing SB 39, the Texas Senate has taken a major step toward providing judges a clear approach to collision cases. These changes will speed up collision trials involving commercial motor vehicles so victims get justice quicker while decreasing legal costs for Texas businesses.' Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick SB 39 was passed in the Senate on April 24 and now heads to the Texas House, where, if passed, it will be signed into law. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
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Texas Senate Bill Would Limit Safety Records in Truck Crash Lawsuits
The Texas Senate just passed a bill, SB 39, that could rewrite the rules for how lawsuits involving commercial truck crashes play out in court. In plain terms? If this bill becomes law, a jury wouldn't hear about a company's prior safety record or driver hiring decisions unless the court had already found the company at fault for the crash in question. Supporters say it's about fairness. Critics say it's about hiding the skeletons in the closet – the repeat violations, the failed maintenance and the 'look-the-other-way' hiring that too often sits at the heart of deadly wrecks. This isn't happening in a vacuum. This happens when we seem to have more commercial crashes than ever. It's the headline every single day. Eden, North Carolina – Authorities say a city dump truck driver without a CDL ran a stop sign and killed four utility workers. The driver never should've been behind the wheel of any commercial truck, let alone one operated by the city. East Ridge, Tennessee – A fiery I-75 crash took multiple lives. Alabama – Authorities say a truck driver ran a red light, leaving two more dead. Alabama – A commercial truck driver is charged with murder after authorities say he caused eight crashes over 28 miles during rush-hour traffic on Interstate 65 South. Investigators say he admitted to drinking an 'unknown amount of tequila' before the crashes. These aren't outliers. This is a systemic issue, but that's why we do what we do for those who have gone into compliance and safety. At Trucksafe, we ensure that fleets understand their risk profile, liability, risk, and moral and ethical obligation to operate safely and build defensible programs. The debate now is whether SB 39 brings more fairness or fog to the courtroom. Fleets have the ability and resources to effectively manage their drivers, potential applicants and safety programs. They're just not doing it, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has limited resources to ensure they're doing it. SB 39, introduced by Sen. Brian Birdwell, would block certain kinds of evidence, like past safety violations, maintenance lapses or bad hiring practices, from being presented in the first phase of a lawsuit unless fault is already established. That means if your driver plows into someone, the jury won't hear about the five other incidents your company had last year until the second half of the trial, if there is one. It builds on a 2021 law that already split trucking lawsuits into two phases. Now they want to go further. Supporters, like Texans for Lawsuit Reform and the Texas Trucking Association, say it's about keeping trials focused on the facts of the crash, not a company's past. They argue it's too easy to sway jurors with unrelated 'bad acts' and inflate awards using emotion over evidence. Opponents, from trial attorneys to law enforcement and grieving families, say this is a gift to bad actors. If a company has a pattern of hiring unqualified drivers or ignoring maintenance? That's exactly what a jury should hear when deciding fault. We do this for individuals who are charged and convicted. After all, when a person is charged criminally in their trial and during sentencing of criminal defendants, there are typically guidelines that review a person's history of illegal activity, how they've been raised, how they've lived their lives, etc. Nuclear verdicts are a real issue. We've seen some eye-popping numbers in recent years in cases that were ignorant and not even the fault of the defendant in either case: $100 million against Werner. $465 million against Wabash (reduced on appeal but still massive). $1 billion against a fleet in Florida. These verdicts are insane, and much of that comes from the Reptile Theory, a legal strategy where lawyers shift the jury's mindset from 'what happened' to 'what could've happened to your family.' It's emotional extortion of juries. It's personal. It's effective. Pair that with third-party litigation financing and hedge funds bankrolling lawsuits for a cut of the payout, and you have the perfect storm: jury rage, deep pockets and a public that's tired of unsafe trucks. So yes, carriers are nervous, and politicians listen to those who write big checks. Take the Eden, North Carolina, crash, for example. A CDL-less city dump truck driver is alleged to have killed four linemen doing their jobs on the side of the road. Now imagine a lawsuit where the jury doesn't hear that the city hired him without making sure he was even licensed, didn't verify his license and didn't have a compliant driver file. That kind of omission is dangerous. These are the details that families rely on to hold fleets accountable. If SB 39 passes and spreads to other states, we could see an increase in cases where truth gets buried in Phase 2, a phase many cases never reach. If fleets want to avoid becoming the next headline or courtroom cautionary tale, it starts with getting ahead of risk before it drives itself into a lawsuit. The tools are already in the toolbox. Systems like Motive for telematics, dashcams and fuel analytics, Tenstreet or Haul for driver recruiting and onboarding, Fleetio and Full Bay for maintenance visibility, and Drivewyze for inspection bypass and violation tracking aren't futuristic options. They're available now. Add in vetting and compliance platforms like Checkr, HireRight, Samba Safety, Driver iQ and even Haul Compliance, and you're not guessing about your risk, you're managing it. Training platforms like Luma Brighter Learning, the Smith System and National Safety Council defensive driving programs can reduce unsafe driving, coach driver fitness, and reinforce good habits from the start. With consultants like TruckSafe helping fleets stay compliant with FMCSA's BASIC categories, from maintenance to controlled substances, hours of service and crash history, the excuses wear thin. We have the right systems, tech and training to build defensible fleets and safe operations. In this legal climate, it's not a question of if you'll be held accountable; it's when. We no doubt need and should be demanding highway litigation reform, but absolving fleets of accountability for historical and everyday behaviors and failures is not the answer. While plaintiffs should be made whole when a commercial crash occurs, there should be limits to the involvement of third-party litigation funding and limits to damages. Being made whole due to someone else's negligence is common sense, but when a $100,000 claim becomes a $400 million lawsuit to fleece carriers and insurance companies, that's where the issue lies. SB 39 has already passed the Senate and is now sitting in the Texas House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee. If it passes, it could become a blueprint for legal reforms across the country. The stakes aren't just legal. They're human. If you're running a fleet, this is a wake-up call: Your hiring practices, maintenance records and DQ files matter. And even if a jury doesn't hear about them in Phase 1, the families and attorneys will. If you're a lawmaker reading this? Think twice about how you shield fleets and drivers from accountability. Because at the end of the day, the ones burying their children don't care what phase the trial is in. They just want the truth. They just want to be made whole. We have good and bad drivers and fleets, and we all share the road, so this could be any of us on any given day involved in commercial accident litigation or funeral preparations. The post Texas Senate Bill Would Limit Safety Records in Truck Crash Lawsuits appeared first on FreightWaves.
