A national business group has given its verdict on New Jersey’s legal climate, and it’s not good.
A report released Wednesday by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a Washington, D.C.-based business lobby group, placed New Jersey 35th in a national survey of lawyers that judged state court systems on whether they are reasonable and balanced.
New Jersey placed 26th in a similar survey last year. It had never previously been ranked lower than 30th in the six years that the chamber has conducted the survey.
The ranking was compiled by a chamber affiliate, Institute for Legal Reform, which interviewed 975 in-house counsels, senior litigators and other senior attorneys with knowledge of litigation at companies with revenues of more than $100 million.
Legal ranking dropsA U.S. Chamber of Commerce report ranks New Jersey’s legal system 35th among the states, down nine spots from last year. Here is how we compare with some other states:
A national business group has given its verdict on New Jersey’s legal climate, and it’s not good.
A report released Wednesday by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a Washington, D.C.-based business lobby group, placed New Jersey 35th in a national survey of lawyers that judged state court systems on whether they are reasonable and balanced.
New Jersey placed 26th in a similar survey last year. It had never previously been ranked lower than 30th in the six years that the chamber has conducted the survey.
The ranking was compiled by a chamber affiliate, Institute for Legal Reform, which interviewed 975 in-house counsels, senior litigators and other senior attorneys with knowledge of litigation at companies with revenues of more than $100 million.
Legal ranking drops
A U.S. Chamber of Commerce report ranks New Jersey’s legal system 35th among the states, down nine spots from last year. Here is how we compare with some other states:
State Ranking
New Jersey 35
New York 25
Delaware 1
Nebraska 2
Louisiana 49
West Virginia 50
* * *
New Jersey’s ranking in various criteria:
Criterion Rank
Judges’ impartiality 31
Judges’ competence 27
Juries’ fairness 38
Admission of technical and expert evidence 35
Handling of discovery issues 38
Source: U.S. Chamber of Commerce/Institute for Legal Reform
Most of the respondents also said that New Jersey did not have rigorous standards when deciding which cases could become class-action suits, he said.
Chamber CEO Tom Donohue said at a morning press conference that lawyers offer a key perspective on the question of how much protection companies can expect to get from a fair and just court system.
“All the people we are asking are the people that represent people that spend a lot of money investing in states, creating jobs, moving companies,” he said. “Risk consideration is becoming more and more significant in where money is put.”
Sixty-three percent of respondents said a state’s litigation environment is likely to affect important business decisions at their company, such as where to locate or do business.
The report comes amid criticism of New Jersey’s business environment as inhospitable, scaring executives out of expanding or locating in the state.
A survey last year by the New Jersey Lawsuit Reform Alliance, whose membership includes two leading business groups, found that eight of 10 businesses interviewed believed the state’s business and litigation climate was “on the wrong track.”
The survey reflected the fear among businesses that they would be caught up defending baseless, expensive lawsuits. The survey reported that two-thirds of employers interviewed said they thought the state needed new laws to protect businesses from frivolous lawsuits, and eight out of 10 called for tort reform
Last month, a report by Pacific Research Institute, a California-based think-tank, found that New Jersey’s court system is among the worst when ranked by criteria such as the number and size of awards in tort cases and the number of cases in the system.
Marcus Rayner, executive director for the alliance, said that “what we are seeing is a number of national media and trade associations and think tanks now are sounding the alarm about New Jersey’s litigation climate — the same way businesses in New Jersey have begun to do.”
The U.S. Chamber study evaluated New Jersey and other states on 12 criteria, including juries’ fairness and predictability, the reasonableness of the courts’ assessment of non-economic damages — such as pain and suffering — and the overall treatment of tort and contract litigation.
E-mail: [email protected]
Businesses fear N.J. courts
Hugh D. Morely
A national business group has given its verdict on New Jersey’s legal climate, and it’s not good.
A report released Wednesday by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a Washington, D.C.-based business lobby group, placed New Jersey 35th in a national survey of lawyers that judged state court systems on whether they are reasonable and balanced.
New Jersey placed 26th in a similar survey last year. It had never previously been ranked lower than 30th in the six years that the chamber has conducted the survey.
The ranking was compiled by a chamber affiliate, Institute for Legal Reform, which interviewed 975 in-house counsels, senior litigators and other senior attorneys with knowledge of litigation at companies with revenues of more than $100 million.
Legal ranking dropsA U.S. Chamber of Commerce report ranks New Jersey’s legal system 35th among the states, down nine spots from last year. Here is how we compare with some other states:
A national business group has given its verdict on New Jersey’s legal climate, and it’s not good.
A report released Wednesday by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a Washington, D.C.-based business lobby group, placed New Jersey 35th in a national survey of lawyers that judged state court systems on whether they are reasonable and balanced.
New Jersey placed 26th in a similar survey last year. It had never previously been ranked lower than 30th in the six years that the chamber has conducted the survey.
The ranking was compiled by a chamber affiliate, Institute for Legal Reform, which interviewed 975 in-house counsels, senior litigators and other senior attorneys with knowledge of litigation at companies with revenues of more than $100 million.
Legal ranking drops
A U.S. Chamber of Commerce report ranks New Jersey’s legal system 35th among the states, down nine spots from last year. Here is how we compare with some other states:
State Ranking
New Jersey 35
New York 25
Delaware 1
Nebraska 2
Louisiana 49
West Virginia 50
* * *
New Jersey’s ranking in various criteria:
Criterion Rank
Judges’ impartiality 31
Judges’ competence 27
Juries’ fairness 38
Admission of technical and expert evidence 35
Handling of discovery issues 38
Source: U.S. Chamber of Commerce/Institute for Legal Reform
Most of the respondents also said that New Jersey did not have rigorous standards when deciding which cases could become class-action suits, he said.
Chamber CEO Tom Donohue said at a morning press conference that lawyers offer a key perspective on the question of how much protection companies can expect to get from a fair and just court system.
“All the people we are asking are the people that represent people that spend a lot of money investing in states, creating jobs, moving companies,” he said. “Risk consideration is becoming more and more significant in where money is put.”
Sixty-three percent of respondents said a state’s litigation environment is likely to affect important business decisions at their company, such as where to locate or do business.
The report comes amid criticism of New Jersey’s business environment as inhospitable, scaring executives out of expanding or locating in the state.
A survey last year by the New Jersey Lawsuit Reform Alliance, whose membership includes two leading business groups, found that eight of 10 businesses interviewed believed the state’s business and litigation climate was “on the wrong track.”
The survey reflected the fear among businesses that they would be caught up defending baseless, expensive lawsuits. The survey reported that two-thirds of employers interviewed said they thought the state needed new laws to protect businesses from frivolous lawsuits, and eight out of 10 called for tort reform
Last month, a report by Pacific Research Institute, a California-based think-tank, found that New Jersey’s court system is among the worst when ranked by criteria such as the number and size of awards in tort cases and the number of cases in the system.
Marcus Rayner, executive director for the alliance, said that “what we are seeing is a number of national media and trade associations and think tanks now are sounding the alarm about New Jersey’s litigation climate — the same way businesses in New Jersey have begun to do.”
The U.S. Chamber study evaluated New Jersey and other states on 12 criteria, including juries’ fairness and predictability, the reasonableness of the courts’ assessment of non-economic damages — such as pain and suffering — and the overall treatment of tort and contract litigation.
E-mail: [email protected]
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.