If you can judge a political candidate by the enemies he makes, Texas Gov. Rick Perry stands pretty tall.
For example, the national tort-lawyer lobby is set to spend millions to try to stop the GOP presidential hopeful in his tracks.
No wonder: Perry, in his 10 years as Texas governor, has managed to implement serious tort reform in a state that even a top litigator concedes was once “the golden goose” for high-end jury verdicts.
Don’t think for a moment, though, that the tort bar is gearing up in the names of truth, justice and the American Way.
As John Coale, a former tort lawyer and major Democratic contributor, told Politico: “Most of the guys I know don’t like [President Obama] . . . But when your livelihood, your money’s on the line, it concentrates the mind.”
Which is why, adds Politico, “among litigators, there is no presidential candidate who inspires the same level of hatred — and fear — as Perry.”
Since 2003, Texas has become a model for national tort reform. That year, the state enacted a $250,000 cap on medical liability for non-economic damages.
That reform in particular helped free Texas from excessive medical-malpractice insurance premiums that had driven many physicians out of state (a problem, by the way, now bedeviling New York and New Jersey).
Other reforms include expedited class certification; ensuring that defendants pay only their proportionate responsibility; liability limits for good Samaritans, volunteer firefighters, etc., and reformed product-liability laws, so that local retailers are not on the hook for manufacturers’ mistakes.
And he continues to push a loser-pays system to discourage frivolous lawsuits, barring judges from finding new causes of action from the bench and expediting trials for litigants with legitimate claims.
No wonder the tort bar is quaking. And what an encouraging sight to see so much agitation.
Of course, the litigators may end up regretting any effort to make this a major campaign issue. (Word to the wise: You’re nowhere near as popular as you think you are.)
But if they’re intent on going to war, all we can say is: Bring it on.