Chamber Urges West Virginia Legal Reform Campaign

CHARLESTON, WV – The United States Chamber of Commerce today joined with the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce in urging state lawmakers to pass significant legal reform legislation. The chambers unveiled a full-page newspaper ad asking for West Virginia citizens to repair the state's flawed legal system.

"Today, we are drawing special attention to one of the most important issues facing the state in this decade – the need for real and meaningful legal reform in West Virginia," said U.S. Chamber President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue at a press conference at the state's Capitol building.

The West Virginia legislature has already made strides with medical liability reform, but the business community wants lawmakers to expand reforms that will help end the kind of lawsuit abuse that harms companies and deters economic growth.

"This may be a local problem, but it has national and even international consequences," Donohue added. "We hope West Virginia's elected officials will change the law to restore fairness to its legal system, stimulate economic development, and create more jobs."

West Virginia's liability system was ranked 49th by over 800 corporate general counsels and senior litigators in a U.S. Chamber-commissioned survey. Humphrey Taylor, Chairman of The Harris Poll® at Harris Interactive, said at today's event, "Our research leaves no doubt that the legal system and the litigation environment in West Virginia are major barriers to corporate investment in the state."

In addition, the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce commissioned The Perryman Group to study the economic impact of litigation in that state. The research group determined that the lack of legal reform meant the loss of 10,000 jobs in 2001 and cost the typical West Virginia family nearly $600 more in higher prices and lower income that year. If no reforms are enacted by 2006, Perryman estimates job losses to rise to 16,000 annually, placing an extra financial burden of $1,000 per family.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation, with more than three million members from every industry sector. The newspaper ad, Perryman Group and Harris Interactive® studies may be viewed at http://www.legalreformnow.com.

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03-12