By Jim Cardle
AUSTIN, Texas (Texas Insider Report) — Texas has built its reputation on Freedom, Opportunity, Entrepreneurship – and Common Sense. We are a state where people come to build businesses, raise families, create jobs, and take risks. But that promise is weakened when our civil justice system is treated less like a place to resolve real disputes, and more like a lottery ticket.
Lawsuits have an important role in Texas. When someone is truly harmed, the courthouse must remain open. Texans deserve justice when contracts are broken, consumers are misled, workers are injured, or companies act irresponsibly. Accountability matters.
But accountability is not the same thing as lawsuit abuse.
For too long, Texas families and businesses have paid the hidden cost of excessive litigation. It shows up in higher insurance premiums, higher prices at the store, more expensive housing, fewer medical options, and less confidence among employers who might otherwise expand, hire, and invest here. The lawsuit industry wants Texans to believe these costs are paid only by “big corporations.” That is not true. In the end, lawsuit abuse reaches the kitchen table.
Small businesses often feel it first. A frivolous claim can force an owner to spend thousands of dollars just to defend themselves, even when they did nothing wrong. Many settle not because a case has merit, but because fighting it would cost more than making it go away. That is not justice. That is legal extortion by another name.
The same problem affects consumers. When insurance carriers face a flood of questionable claims and aggressive litigation tactics, Texans pay through higher premiums. When builders, doctors, truckers, retailers, restaurants, and local employers face rising legal exposure, those costs do not disappear. They are passed along in the form of higher prices, fewer services, and reduced opportunity.
Texas has confronted lawsuit abuse before, and we know reform works. Citizens across this state have repeatedly stood up for a civil justice system that is fair, balanced, and accessible to those with legitimate claims, not one that rewards gamesmanship and jackpot justice. The goal has never been to deny anyone their day in court. The goal is to make sure the courthouse is not abused by those seeking leverage rather than justice.
That principle is just as important today as it was when Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse first began sounding the alarm. The tactics may change, the advertising may become more sophisticated, and the trial lawyer lobby may rebrand its message, but the underlying problem remains the same: abusive litigation drains resources from productive people and redirects them into a system too often driven by contingency-fee economics rather than fairness.
Texas lawmakers should continue to strengthen protections against abusive lawsuits, inflated damage claims, misleading legal advertising, and litigation practices designed to pressure settlements regardless of the facts. Courts should be places where evidence matters, responsibility is fairly assigned, and damages are tied to reality. They should not be casinos where the threat of a runaway verdict becomes a business model.
This issue is also about trust. Texans must be able to trust that our justice system serves the injured, the wronged, and the accountable, not the most aggressive billboard campaign. They must be able to trust that businesses can operate without being targeted by meritless claims. They must be able to trust that legal reform will protect both access to justice and the economic freedom that has made Texas strong.
Reining in lawsuit abuse is not anti-consumer. It is pro-consumer. It is pro-taxpayer, pro-small business, pro-job creation, and pro-Texas.
A fair legal system should punish wrongdoing, compensate real victims, and discourage negligence. But it should also reject abuse, manipulation, and litigation schemes that enrich a few while everyone else pays more.
Texas did not become the best state for opportunity by rewarding abuse. We became strong because we value work, responsibility, fairness, and freedom. Our civil justice system should reflect those values.
It is time to rein in lawsuit abuse, not to close the courthouse doors, but to keep them open for justice, not exploitation.
