Personal injury

An op-ed from policy directors at the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute and the James Madison Institute argues that decades of civil justice reform in Texas and Florida helped fuel the two states' outsized economic growth, citing recent comments from SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins praising the "Boom Belt" region's investor protections and business-friendly legal climate. Texas's reform efforts trace to the 1969 Tort Claims Act, while Florida's date to a 1986 tort and insurance overhaul, most recently updated in 2023.

The authors warn these gains are under threat from trial-lawyer-aligned political spending, pointing to a $10 million contribution from a major Texas law firm to a new political action committee and extensive donations from the Florida Justice Association across both major parties. They call for continued legislative action, including limits on large jury verdicts and disclosure requirements for third-party litigation financing, to preserve the legal environment they credit for the region's growth.