Guest columnist Phil Melin: Lawsuit abuse costs everyone in Illinois
A popular western-suburban small business recently paid an almost $1 million settlement after utilizing a fingerprint sign-in/sign-out system for its employees a few years ago, technology employers safely use in every other state in America.
The data was secure and nobody suffered an injury. Still, like nearly 1,500 other Illinois businesses, this business unwittingly ensnared itself in the draconian claws of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act ("BIPA").
Illinois Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse raises awareness about unfairness in the Illinois civil justice system and encourages policymakers to adopt reforms to balance the scales of justice.
To be sure, a robust civil justice system is essential to allow wronged parties to seek redress. Nobody wants Illinois to become the Wild West. However, there is a concerning trend of the Illinois legislature consistently favoring the trial attorney lobby, which routinely tilts the scales of justice against small businesses and entrepreneurs - the backbone of our local economies and job creation. This imbalance leads to excessive and abusive tort litigation, resulting in substantial costs for all of us regarding direct expenses, gross domestic product, government revenue and job loss.
Our recent report quantifies the rising costs of lawsuit abuse in Illinois, with direct costs exceeding a staggering $12.6 billion in 2022. These costs encompass job loss and the negative impact on economic output.
It is a mistake for Illinois citizens to think that the costs of a broken civil justice system do not affect them individually. The impacts of lawsuit abuse trickle down from the wrongfully sued small businesses to each of us. The company that paid the million-dollar BIPA settlement now incurs higher insurance rates and other employment costs, forcing it to raise customer prices and defer paying raises to its employees.
According to our report, common sense civil justice reform would generate 202,563 new jobs and more than $2 million in revenue for state and local governments in Illinois. If the Illinois legislature adopted modest reforms, each resident of the Chicago metro region could gain an additional $2,321 every year while still ensuring injured parties have access to a strong and fair legal system. We all could be doing so much better.
Sadly, the Illinois legislature is moving in the wrong direction. The recently concluded legislative session was devastating for the local businesses in our communities, primarily due to the influence of the special interest trial attorney lobby:
1. The legislature neglected the calls of the Illinois Supreme Court to rectify the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) excesses after the court determined this year that White Castle could be sued for up to an egregious $17 billion.
2. HB0219 added uncapped punitive damage liabilities on top of compensatory damages for wrongful death claims.
3. The legislature imposed new strict liabilities on ride-share service dispatchers.
In our current era of out-of-control inflation, the Illinois legislature drove our prices up on everything from restaurants, groceries and rides to the airport. It's death by a million cuts for working-class families living on a budget.
Illinois is fortunate to have so many entrepreneurs willing to put everything they have into generating prosperity for themselves, their employees and our government entities. Collectively, they are the goose whose golden eggs fund our governments and critical programs. It's so sad that the Illinois legislature routinely sides with entrepreneurial trial attorneys rather than the proprietors who provide the goods and services we all use every day.
Illinois has so many advantages and a modest balancing of the scales of our civil justice system would unleash a new era of prosperity in all corners of our state. If you love your local restaurateur, dry cleaner and shop owner and want them to succeed, please demand your local state legislators and Governor pursue reasonable tort reforms
• Phil Melin, a non-practicing attorney, is executive director of Illinois Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, www.cala.com/illinois, a grass-roots organization for businesses working to raise awareness of lawsuit abuse in Illinois.