| The costs of our country’s
civil justice system have increased by a factor of
100 since 1950. The societal costs of tort actions
now equal a 5% tax on wages in the U.S.
So says Lord
Levene, chairman of Lloyd’s of London, which
helps provide capacity for commercial insurance policies
in the United States and around the world. “The
U.S. litigation system, if left unchecked, will destroy
the American spirit of enterprise and drain the U.S.
economy,” warned Levene.
“We need to strike
a balance so that individuals do have a means of redress
and risk-takers have a safety net should things go
wrong but aren’t dragged into court at the most
inconsequential slip,” Levene said, urging Congress
to find this balance and act against the awarding of
excessive damages.
He added that lawsuit abuse “strikes
at the very heart of the American spirit for enterprise.
We now have a system in which doctors can’t
deliver babies for fear of being sued and can’t
afford to pay for the insurance coverage. In such an
environment, what hope is there to keep the spirit
of risk-taking alive, to fuel the appetite for innovation
and creation?” To make sure your liability
insurance meets your legal needs, please give us a
call. |
