Lawsuit Abuse Resource Hub

American Trucking Associations is committed to stopping lawsuit abuse against motor carriers. 

Overview    State of Play    Resources

Overview

We strongly believe that when a motor carrier acts wrongfully, and that wrongful conduct injures those with whom we share the road, the motor carrier should be held accountable and those injured should be fairly compensated. 

However, certain tactics, trends, and rules have transformed truck accident cases into a profit center for the plaintiffs' bar, rather than a fair system for determining fault and holding responsible parties accountable.

These perverse and destructive litigation practices have enabled the Jackpot Justice industry to engineer nuclear verdicts and settlements that are disproportionate to the alleged harm, or completely untethered from actual causation for the underlying accident that is the subject of a filed lawsuit.

Through targeted reforms, ATA is committed to restoring fairness and balance to the system to ensure justice drives accident litigation outcomes, not profits. Our reform efforts address issues including but not limited to the following issues: 

• Stacked Environments: Trucking companies are finding it increasingly impossible to get a fair shake in many state courts when involved in accident litigation, as the plaintiffs' bar "forum shops" to find favorable judges that will steer the outcome in their desired direction.
   
• Admissibility of Phantom Damages: Many states permit evidence of billed medical costs and do not permit evidence of what was actually paid for those medical costs after insurance, rate negotiations, and other adjustments. The difference between billed medical costs and paid medical costs is a phantom damage—essentially a fictitious number that generates a windfall profit for plaintiffs. Phantom damages create disproportionate economic damage recoveries in personal injury lawsuits, creating a higher baseline for non-economic damages.
   
• Unfettered Noneconomic Damages: Noneconomic damages are subjective, non-monetary losses, such as pain and suffering. In many states, there are no limits on the noneconomic damages that can be awarded to a plaintiff.
   
• Direct Negligence Claims: In many states, a trucking company can admit that it is responsible for its truck driver’s negligence but a plaintiff is still permitted to sue the trucking company for direct negligence allegations such as negligent hiring, negligent selection, negligent training, and negligent entrustment—even when those allegations did not cause the underlying accident. Such allegations are a red herring which distract and mislead a jury from the relevant considerations to determine who was at fault for a crash. 
   
• Third-party Litigation Finance: Most people agree that civil litigation is not a stock market—but that is what it's becoming with the involvement of third-party litigation financing. Also known as "lawsuit lending," this occurs when a disinterested, third-party—often investment firms with billion-dollar portfolios—fronts the cost of litigation with an agreement that the plaintiff will repay the lender with interest on a verdict or settlement. This incentives plaintiffs to pursue outsized verdicts in order to repay their loan, making it harder to reach reasonable settlements. Many states do not restrict the ability for plaintiffs to enter into such funding arrangements, and judges, juries and defendants are left unaware of the arrangement.

These factors have contributed to a surge in nuclear and disproportionate verdicts that are causing industry-wide economic harm. For a motor carrier who receives a nuclear verdict, generally defined as an eight- or nine-figure verdict, it could mean bankruptcy. But it always means increased supply chain costs. 
 

Back to Top

State of Play

State by state, governors and state legislatures are waking up to the fact that the Jackpot Justice industry’s abuses of civil litigation must be reigned in.  These common-sense reforms targeting specific and perverse trial-bar tactics are leveling the playing field by putting justice over attorney profits. 

The trucking industry is applauding the many wins since the campaign’s inception (hover over each state for details on recent reforms):   
 

State Legislatures have been active in 2024. Bills have been introduced in the following states to reform lawsuit abuse in these critical areas:

Back to Top

Resources

State Lawsuit Abuse Reform Toolkit

For ATA Members Only

This electronic notebook has been compiled as a guide for understanding the lawsuit abuse reform issue, its impact on the trucking industry, and potential steps to change laws in the states. ATA members can access the toolkit here.

Back to Top