TAMPA, Fla. – Every October, communities across the country take a week to spotlight a problem that too often flies under the radar: lawsuit abuse. This year, October 6 marks the first day of Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week, and here in Florida, the message could not be more timely and important.
Our state has long been ground zero for excessive litigation and so-called “nuclear verdicts”—those astronomical jury awards that devastate local businesses, inflate costs for families, and make it harder for job creators to thrive.
These cases aren’t just legal squabbles between corporations and lawyers. They hit every Floridian directly in the wallet. Frivolous lawsuits add up to what is known as a “tort tax”—a hidden cost of living that trickles down to consumers in the form of higher prices and fewer opportunities.
A recent Perryman Group study commissioned by Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse revealed that residents in Tampa Bay alone shoulder an average tort tax of $1,375 per person each year. That’s money drained from household budgets that could otherwise go toward rent, groceries, or a child’s education.
The economic fallout is staggering when you zoom out and examine the impact of frivolous litigation statewide. Florida loses more than $15 billion in economic output annually because of lawsuit abuse, with nearly a quarter-million jobs wiped out across industries ranging from retail and business services to health care and manufacturing. Across the nation, families feel it most acutely, bearing an estimated $5,215 in higher costs each year because of an overburdened civil justice system.
The good news is that reforms championed by Governor DeSantis in recent years are finally starting to work.
As discussed by the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, Florida now enjoys the lowest average homeowners’ premium increases in the nation, and our insurance market has stabilized. In fact, 14 new carriers have entered the marketplace, a sign that confidence is returning to a system once plagued by instability. These gains are fragile, however, and trial lawyers are lobbying hard to turn back the clock. If they succeed, the progress we’ve made will quickly unravel, and costs will again skyrocket.
In the 2025 legislative session, powerful trial lawyer interests pushed a slate of bills through the House aimed at dismantling the very reforms that had been hard-won just two years earlier. Fortunately, Governor Ron DeSantis and the Senate stood firm, blocking these rollbacks before they could undo the progress Floridians had made. But make no mistake, the fight is far from over. With the trial lawyer lobby continuing to wield enormous influence in Tallahassee, we cannot afford to relax or assume these reforms are safe.
Protecting tort reform is not about shielding corporations; it’s about shielding Floridians and their hard-earned money. It’s about ensuring families can afford their homes, businesses can grow without the constant threat of abusive lawsuits, and jobs can flourish in Tampa and St. Petersburg.
As we observe Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week, Floridians should remember how far we’ve come and how much we stand to lose. The courtroom should be a place for fairness and accountability—not a jackpot for billboard attorneys. Now is the time to defend the gains we’ve made and keep Florida moving forward.
Tom Gaitens—Executive Director of Florida CITIZENS AGAINST LAWSUIT ABUSE (FL CALA)