ATRA BACKS COMMISSION'S SUPPORT FOR INTERMEDIATE APPEALS COURT

Says Mid-Level Court Would Pay for Itself by Boosting Economy, Tax Revenues

Washington, DC, November 16, 2009 -- Reacting to yesterday’s late release of a final report by the West Virginia Commission on Judicial Reform, American Tort Reform Association president Tiger Joyce voiced strong support for the commission’s recommendation to create an intermediate level appeals court.

“The commissioners deserve a great deal of credit for the thoughtful roadmap they’ve provided to West Virginia policymakers,” began Joyce, whose organization has routinely cited the state as a “judicial hellhole” in its annual report of the same name.

“Economic growth and job creation have been stymied in the Mountain State because of its courts’ reputation among business leaders,” Joyce continued. “Fearing unfair trial court decisions, and frustrated without a guaranteed right to appeal those decisions, too many businesses and companies leave the state or choose to avoid it altogether in the first place.

“So ATRA very much supports in principle the commission’s recommendation that the state legislature act to establish an intermediate level appeals court. Such a court would ease the burden on the Supreme Court of Appeals, freeing the high court to continue hearing a discretionary docket focused on important or novel legal issues,” Joyce explained.

“An intermediate appeals court could also pay for itself within a matter of years,” added Joyce, “as employers nationwide become more confident in establishing themselves in West Virginia, and the state’s economy and tax revenues steadily grow.

“We urge both Gov. Joe Manchin, who deserves much credit for initially empowering the court commission to study such important issues, and the legislature to make establishment of an intermediate appeals court a top priority. We’d also like to see the Supreme Court of Appeals follow up on the commission’s recommendation to study the creation of a business court for complicated corporate and contract disputes,” Joyce concluded.

Text of the commission’s full report is posted here.

####

The American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) is the only national organization dedicated exclusively to tort and liability reform through public education and the enactment of legislation. ATRA's membership includes non profits, small and large companies, as well as state and national trade, business, and professional associations.