February 2017 – Page 3 – Florida Justice Reform Institute

JUDICIAL TERM LIMITS GET BACKING IN HOUSE

By JIM SAUNDERS
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, February 9, 2017……… Despite opposition from an array of legal groups, a House panel Thursday backed a proposed constitutional amendment that would place term limits on Florida Supreme Court justices and state appeals-court judges.

House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, is pushing the proposal, which would go on the 2018 ballot if it gets through the Legislature. The proposal would revamp a decades-old system in which Supreme Court justices and appeals-court judges do not face term limits — though they are required to go before voters every six years for merit-retention elections and face a mandatory retirement age of 70.

Rep. Jennifer Sullivan, a Mount Dora Republican who is sponsoring the measure (HJR 1), said the current system does not hold jurists accountable. She said no justice or appeals-court judge has ever lost a merit-retention vote.

“This bill is about good government and accountability,” Sullivan said before the House Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee approved the proposal.

But the measure faces opposition from legal groups ranging from The Florida Bar to the Florida Justice Reform Institute, a business-aligned organization that has frequently disagreed with the state Supreme Court about civil legal issues. Opponents said, in part, that term limits would dissuade young attorneys from leaving private law practices for judgeships because those attorneys would eventually have to go back and try to rebuild practices.

“Bottom line, term limits are not going to ensure the best judges are on the bench,” said William Large, president of the Florida Justice Reform Institute. “Instead, they will only ensure that the best and brightest Florida lawyers rarely, if ever, apply.”

The proposal would prevent Supreme Court justices and appeals-court judges from seeking additional terms in merit-retention elections if they have already served 12 consecutive years in their positions. The House passed a similar proposal last year, but senators did not approve it.

Corcoran and other Republican leaders have been highly critical of the Supreme Court in recent years because of rulings that overturned legislative decisions.

But Rep. Sean Shaw, a Tampa Democrat who voted against the proposed constitutional amendment Thursday, said lawmakers disagreeing with court rulings is evidence that the constitutional separation of powers is working. Shaw also pointed to the experience of his father, the late Supreme Court Justice Leander Shaw, who had repeated merit-retention votes and “had to campaign vigorously.”

“I’m still not certain that there is a problem that we are addressing,” Shaw said.

Rep. Shawn Harrison, however, said the ultimate decision about term limits would be up to voters if lawmakers put the issue on the 2018 ballot.

“This is a proposed constitutional amendment,” said Harrison, a Tampa Republican and lawyer. “What we’re doing here today is not changing the rules. We are letting the people decide if this is what they want.”

–END–2/9/2017

https://new.newsserviceflorida.com/app/post.html?postID=24131

True cost of workers’ compensation rulings pegged at $1.3 billion

MICHAEL MOLINE
February 2, 2017, 6:17 pm

Florida Supreme Court rulings in workers’ compensation cases will boost employers’ costs by 35.4 percent, adding $1.3 billion to the cost of doing business in the state, an economist warned Thursday during the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s Insurance Summit.

“This breaks into a $929 million annual increase in premiums for the insured employers and a $361 million increase in claims costs for the self-insured employers,” said Mike Helvacian, of the National Center for Policy Analysis.

That means smaller payrolls and annual raises, less hiring, and smaller starting wages, he said.

Helvacian blamed escalating attorney fees now that the court has lifted caps on attorney fees. The court did so in Castellanos v. Next Door Co., a ruling handed down last year. The high court lifted limits on total disability eligibility in a separate ruling.

The attorney fee caps were imposed in reforms the Legislature adopted in 2003, as were other restrictions on benefits intended to drive down the cost of administering claims. Before the reforms, Florida posted the highest workers’ compensation premiums in the country. Afterward, the cost savings contributed to to private employment growth at a rate nearly twice that in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama, Helvacian said.

Wage growth also exceeded that in Florida’s neighbors — at 3.4 percent compared to an average 2.7 percent.

The attorney fee caps, based on the amount of benefits earned for the client, and other reforms saved 28.6 percent in system costs, by Helvacian’s calculations. Without them, he expects costs to rise by that same percentage.

Helvacian appeared during a panel discussion during the Chamber gathering in Miami. Also participating was Chris Bailey, state relations executive with the National Council on Compensation Insurance, or NCCI, which proposes workers’ compensation premium rates in Florida.

Last year, NCCI proposed a 19.6 percent premium hike, although the Office of Insurance Regulation approved only an 14.5 percent increase. The rate, which began to take effect in December, is under attack in the 1st District Court of Appeal over alleged violation of the Sunshine Law.

Critics of Florida’s workers’ compensation system have questioned NCCI’s role in proposing rates for nearly all Florida insurers. These critics, including trial attorneys on key House and Senate Committees, argue insurers should compete against each other on rates — basing premiums on individual policy loss costs.

That’s a “red herring,” Bailey said — “truly, more of a distraction” from the real problem, And that, he said, is attorney fees.

Under Florida’s system, insurers compete on the “back end,” Bailey said — offer dividends and other inducements to lure business.

Lisa Miller, a Tallahassee lobbyist, counts herself among the system’s critics.

“Workers’ compensation is designed to protect injured workers. The best way to do that is competition on the front end and the back end,” Miller said.

“The best way to do that is re-engineer how we handle rates in Florida, and study the claims practices and go to loss cost.”

http://floridapolitics.com/archives/231488-chamber-workers

Judicial Term Limits Get Backing In House

True Cost of Workers’ Compensation Rulings Pegged at $1.3 Billion

MICHAEL MOLINE
February 2, 2017, 6:17 pm

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MICHAEL MOLINE February 2, 2017, 6:17 pm

Florida Justice Reform Institute

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MICHAEL MOLINE
February 2, 2017, 6:17 pm