CA Legal Lawsuit Ranking

According to the latest Harris Poll from the US Chamber Institute for Legal Reform....CA ranks 47th worst in the nation when considering legal environment. This is making CA look more and more like a Hollywood Horror film when considering the legal environment. To make matters worse, "Los Angeles is the single worst lawsuit jurisdiction in America, according to the survey."

What does this mean to you? It means you have a very high possibility of being sued, especially as a business owner. So would you probably consider looking into starting your business elsewhere due to this fact? Of course you would. It is so bad, there are foundations here like California's Wacky Labels Contest and Faces of Lawsuit Abuse.

What are some of the frivolous lawsuits which are being encountered.....how about this:

"Litigation over a small businessman's pursuit of the perfect kitty litter scoop is one example of why the lawsuit climate in California continues to rank low compared to other states, according to a survey released this week.

"No one is actually accusing your product of harming anyone," Chuck Firth, the creator of the popular DuraScoop kitty litter scooper, said in a video by Faces of Lawsuit Abuse, a project of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, which owns this publication. "They're just saying, 'You didn't put a warning label on it.'"

Pretty ridiculous in many aspects. Yeah, we all get the label issue which sprouted from Proposition 65 as stated by Karen Kidd of the Northern CA Record...."Proposition 65 was a voter initiative approved 1986 over concerns about toxic chemical exposure. Prop. 65 eventually evolved into the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, which requires businesses to notify California residents about significant amounts of chemicals in their products or that are released into the environment. The initiative also requires California's state government to maintain a list of chemicals that are known to cause cancer, birth defects or other types of reproductive harm. Currently, approximately 927 chemicals are on the list."And we have a legislature that's been unwilling to try to reform those problems," Doherty said in the video.Laws such at Prop. 65 have led to what Bob Dorigo Jones, a senior fellow at the Center for America, has referred to as "California's wacky labels" in an opinion piece published by the Washington Times, as well as major litigation headaches for small business owners like Firth, according to Faces of Lawsuit Abuse research."

Bottom line is this....if you own a business in CA, whether it be a sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC or Corporation, you might stongly consider not only having your General Liability policy in place....you need to seriously look at Directors & Officers Coverage, Employment Practices Liability Coverage, Errors and Omissions Coverage. Management Liability and General Partners Liability to name a few. Wage and hour lawsuits, discrimination lawsuits, wrongful termination lawsuits, sexual harassment lawsuits and so many more business related issues are on the rise and these coverages were designed to protect you as the owner, partner, officer, representative, etc. in your business.