May 2025 – Florida Justice Reform Institute

Florida House members thwarted from rolling back DeSantis-supported legal reforms

May 6, 2025/in Florida Record

FLORIDA RECORD

Florida Justice Reform Institute President William Large said tort reforms signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis could be replicated by governors in other states. | Florida Justice Reform Institute

By Michael Carroll – May 6, 2025

Florida Republican representatives have made several attempts this year to roll back past tort reforms that Gov. Ron DeSantis credited for helping to stabilize the property insurance market and lower auto insurance premiums.

Recent state Senate actions, however, have blocked these legislative moves. On April 25, representatives placed provisions of a bill (HB 947) that sought to reinstate two-way attorney fees for certain insurance lawsuits into another bill containing provisions to protect the owners of former phosphate mining sites from legal liability for radiation issues (SB 832).

The modified SB 832 passed the House of Representatives on an 80–to-20 vote last month, but the Senate refused to sign off on the legislative mash-up. On Friday, the House indefinitely postponed the bill, withdrawing it from consideration.

DeSantis previously promised to veto any legislation that sought to roll back the tort reforms passed during the 2022 and 2023 legislative sessions. His allies, including the Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky, said the legal reforms contained in SB 832 and HB 947, including changes that could inflate the calculation of medical damages, would reverse progress that has been made to put the brakes on excessive legal filings.

“HB 947 threatens to dismantle the hard-won progress achieved through Florida’s historic tort reform efforts in 2022 and 2023,” Yaworsky said in an analysis of the bill. “These reforms were pivotal in stabilizing our insurance sector after years of unsustainable litigation-driven losses.”

The state Legislature had been scheduled to adjourn on May 2 but will continue meeting this week in order to finalize a state budget.

“The Florida House seemed hell-bent on undoing Gov. DeSantis’ legal reforms,” William Large, president of the Florida Justice Reform Institute told the Florida Record in an email. “I suspect the reason has to do with the fact that many governors around the country were looking at the DeSantis reforms as a template for their state to use.”

Trial attorneys wanted the Florida House to send a message to other state governors that if they tried to replicate the DeSantis reforms, they would face political repercussions, according to Large.

“However, Gov. DeSantis and the Florida Senate stood strong and would not bend to the political whims of the Florida House,” he said. “The 2023 DeSantis tort reforms remain in place; moreover, they will continue to serve as an example for other states.”

The reforms that the governor signed in 2022 and 2023 included elimination of one-way attorney fees from insurance claims litigation, a clarification of what it means for an insurer to act in “bad faith” and shortening the amount of time insurers have to respond to policyholder claims.

In a recent television interview, the governor acknowledged that he has had his share of differences with House members this year on the subject of legal reforms.

“If you didn’t know anything else about that House, and you just saw what they were pushing, you would think that they were all sponsored by Morgan & Morgan,” DeSantis said.

Commissioner Yaworsky has argued that statistics are showing that the DeSantis-signed legal reforms of past years are working. Reinsurance rates declined last year, 12 new insurers have begun to write policies in the Florida market, year-over-year lawsuit filings have decreased by 23% and 19 property insurers have signed off on rate reductions, he said.

https://flarecord.com/stories/671176030-florida-house-members-thwarted-from-rolling-back-desantis-supported-legal-reforms

Why Trial Lawyers Hate Florida’s Insurance-Market Reforms

May 2, 2025/in Wall Street Journal

We put an end to the litigation abuse that drove rates ever higher. Now the market is stabilizing.
By Paul Renner – May 2, 2025 4:00 pm ET

A ‘For Sale’ sign outside a single-family home in Hollywood, Fla., Oct. 27, 2022. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Palm Coast, Fla.

Floridians have faced major increases in their homeowners and automobile insurance premiums in recent years. At the same time, Florida ranked as one of the worst states in the country for lawsuit abuse, with our courts flooded by frivolous claims. This was no coincidence. Our Wild West litigation rules were a major reason that Floridians’ premiums were among the most expensive in the country and—for those already struggling with inflation—simply unaffordable.

To illustrate the connection between litigation abuse and affordability, in 2019 about 8% of all homeowners’ claims filed in the U.S. were filed in Florida. But according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Florida accounted for 76% of all claims that turned into lawsuits that year. Politicians overuse the word “crisis,” but this was a real one. Many predicted the collapse of our property-insurance market. Meanwhile, every time a billboard attorney won another jackpot, we all paid higher premiums.

When I was speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, the Legislature acted to end frivolous lawsuits and abusive tactics by lawyers while protecting people with legitimate legal claims. We also enhanced regulatory authority and raised penalties imposed on any insurer that failed to pay customers’ claims properly and promptly. These two major reforms ignored the special-interest fights among attorneys and insurance companies and put the focus where it belongs: on making litigation and insurance rules fair and premiums more affordable for all consumers.

The benefits of those reforms are now kicking in. Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation announced in February that nearly two-thirds of automobile premiums are declining between 6% and 10.5% this year, depending on the insurer, with more decreases expected as filings continue. If we stay the course, we should see even more-affordable rates in the years ahead.

Floridians are also seeing improvements with homeowners insurance. While 2024 rates continued to increase by double digits nationally, according to S&P Global, Florida premiums only increased 1% on average. This was the lowest rate of increase in the nation and well below the rate of inflation. Forty-three companies, representing 79% of policies on the market, filed either a decrease in 2024 or didn’t file increases. Our reforms ended the billboard-lawyer gravy train and eliminated the big increases in homeowners premiums we faced before those reforms became effective. Together with funding for home-hardening programs like My Safe Florida Home, the Sunshine State’s property insurance market will continue to stabilize and become more affordable in the years ahead.

Florida is known for its best-in-the-country freedom agenda, robust economy, and No. 1 ranking in education. Yet litigation abuse was one area in which our state ranked at the very bottom. Critics claim reform enriches insurance companies, but Florida’s recent rate reductions and market stabilization prove these arguments are baseless. While premiums remain too high and require continued attention, there is no question that ending litigation abuse has made a positive difference.

Recently, some in the Florida Legislature—at the behest of trial lawyers—have sought to undo these reforms. Gov. Ron DeSantis has led the fight to push back and has vowed to veto any efforts to undo our success.

Other states are following Florida’s lead. In March, Georgia passed landmark lawsuit-abuse reforms that will protect consumers, reduce costs and lower the hidden “litigation tax.” Texas lawmakers are considering a bill that will stop lawyers from padding jury awards with inflated and unreasonable charges. Louisiana, Oklahoma and even California are considering legislation this year to reform their broken legal systems. My advice is simple: Make litigation and insurance rules fair, and watch as premiums come down.

Mr. Renner, a Republican, served as speaker of the Florida House, 2022-24.

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/why-trial-lawyers-hate-floridas-insurance-market-reforms-litigation-abuse-homeowners-automobile-b4a6f71e

Legislature OKs more wrongful-death suits against hospitals, docs

May 2, 2025/in Florida Phoenix

Florida Justice Reform Institute says it will request a veto.
By: Christine Sexton – May 1, 2025 6:26 pm

State Sen. Gayle Harrell says he’s been attacked via billboards for opposing liberalization of wrongful-death suits against doctors and hospitals without limiting potential monetary awards. (Screenshot, WPTV)

The Florida Legislature on Thursday sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis a bill that would put an end to a 35-year-ban that prevents people from filing lawsuits against physicians and hospitals for medical malpractice.

The 33-4 vote by the Florida Senate capped a tumultuous 24-hours in which the main sponsor paused action on his bill a day earlier after the Senate narrowly rejected his call to cap how much someone could collect in a medical malpractice.

“It needs to be repealed, it is unjust,” said Sen. Clay Yarborough, the Republican who sponsored the legislation, of the litigation ban.

State Sen. Clay Yarborough via: Florida Senate

The question is what will happen next. DeSantis has complained loudly about the influence of “liberal trial attorneys.” Yarborough on Thursday told reporters there was a chance the governor could nix the bill.

Under existing law, parents of single, childless, adult children cannot sue for noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering. Adult children, defined as those 25 and older, are also banned from pursuing wrongful death claims for single parents who die from medical malpractice. ‘

HB 6017 would completely eliminate this prohibition in law. It passed over strong opposition from groups such as the Florida Hospital Association, Florida Medical Association, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and insurance industry lobbyists.

Florida Justice Reform Institute William Large said he will ask the governor to veto the bill.

“This bill is bad for Floridians. It’s bad for consumers. This bill will only increase healthcare costs for all Floridians,” Large told the Florida Phoenix, adding that he estimates as many as 500 additional lawsuits annually will result from eliminating the ban.

The vote for final passage Thursday followed emotional testimony wherein state Sen. Gayle Harrell’s voice cracked as she explained that she was being targeted by billboards for her opposition to the bill.

Harrell, a long-time champion of the medical profession, said she would have supported the expansion of lawsuits against physicians and hospitals if, in exchange, the Senate agreed to put a $1 million limit on wrongful death recoveries for all medical malpractice incidents.

Harrell said she was moved throughout the session by testimony from residents who shared stories of how their children, parents, and loved ones died allegedly from medical malpractice but were prevented from seeking redress in court. But, at the end of the day, she said she believes that without damages caps, physicians and hospitals will face increased costs and stop practicing.

Sen. Gayle Harrell (Photo via the Florida Senate.)

“I can tell you we are going to have a huge increase in medical malpractice. And in addition we are going to have physicians not coming to the state of Florida,” she said.

Harrell said she has been targeted for her position. The Republican from Stuart didn’t say who was behind the intimidation.

“I can tell you this has become very difficult for me, personally. I am getting personal attacks on it because of my stand. There is now a billboard in front of my neighborhood saying Gayle Harrell supports profits over people,” she said, adding there is a “double billboard” “attacking” her in another nearby neighborhood.

“And I can tell you, that is very devastating to anyone in a political situation where they think Gayle Harrell puts profits over people. I do not. I do not,” she said.

Harrell’s remarks solicited anger from a bipartisan group of senators who came to her defense.

Former Senate Democratic leader turned independent Sen. Jason Pizzo said: “I want you to hear me now. Nobody has done more to provide access to health care than Gayle Harrell. So if you know the person who put up the billboard, I’m not affecting anyone’s First Amendment rights, but you can tell them that Jason Pizzo won’t like them when he finds out who they are.”

Pizzo announced later that he had reached someone who had promised to take down the billboards.

State Sen. Jim Boyd. Credit: Florida Channel

Sen. Jim Boyd, a Republican from Bradenton, extolled Harrell for her work over the years on issues involving children, the elderly, and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“There’s nobody more caring than you,” Boyd told Harrell. “An attack on you is an attack on us. Anybody from St. Augustine or anywhere else in Florida that would put up a sign like that ought to think twice about it. It’s not fair. It’s not right. And it can’t be tolerated.”

https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/05/01/state-sen-gayle-harrell-has-been-attacked-on-billboards-for-objecting-to-opening-up-floridas-medical-malpractice-laws-without-limiting-potential-recoveries-screenshot-wptv/