Greg Thomas discusses tort reform bills at the West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse roundtable on Tuesday afternoon at the Parkersburg Country Club. (Photo by Gwen Sour)

VIENNA — West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse hosted a roundtable meeting at the Parkersburg Country Club Tuesday afternoon, gathering over a dozen business leaders, trade association representatives, lobbyists, and state officials to discuss state legal reform.

“We’re a statewide legal reform organization, we’ve got about 20,000 members statewide,” said Greg Thomas, executive director of West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse. “Every summer we go out, do some meetings across the state where we invite local job creators, health care providers, legislators, community leaders, and talk about how lawsuit abuse is impacting their communities.”

Representatives from the West Virginia Bankers Association, the West Virginia Insurance Federation, West Virginia Manufacturers Association, alongside several state delegates and business leaders were present.

“This is the first year we have passed a tort reform bill in 10 years,” Thomas said. “We were on offense trying to fix our economy across the state. Now we’re on defense.”

Tort reform bills are a piece of legislation designed to change the laws governing personal injury (tort) cases.

Bryce Himerlick shares his concerns about West Virginia House Bill 850 at the West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse roundtable on Tuesday afternoon at the Parkersburg Country Club. (Photo by Gwen Sour)

Bryce Himerlick, government affairs strategist for the West Virginia Bankers Association, outlined legal challenges businesses could face. He said language in Senate Bill 850 could open banks and corporations to lawsuits for basic decisions related to customer service or shareholder responsibilities.

“Senate Bill 850, a good example of a bill that’s getting passed by the trial lawyer-friendly contingent of the state Senate, it’s a catch-all bill; sue for all, sue for anything,” said Himerlick. “And it didn’t just affect banks. It could be any business: manufacturers, insurance companies. Anything has shareholders … pretty much anything, from installing energy-efficient hot water tanks to customer satisfaction policy.”

Jill Rice, president of the West Virginia Insurance Federation, emphasized the growing impact of what she calls “phantom damages” in litigation. These damages, she explained, were based on the full sticker price of medical care, rather than the amount paid by an individual after insurance.

“If I have $100,000 in medical bills, but because I have health insurance, I may actually only be out-of-pocket $30,000, but a plaintiff’s lawyer can actually recover $100,000 in what are called economic damages,” said Rice.

According to Thomas, the reform movement in West Virginia faces new political challenges, even from within its traditional allies.

Jill Rice discusses the financial impact of a lawsuit at the West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse roundtable on Tuesday afternoon at the Parkersburg Country Club. (Photo by Gwen Sour)

“We spent 15 years trying to be pro-life, pro-gun, pro-trial lawyer, pro-union, big government Democrats,” said Thomas. “Now we find ourselves running campaigns against pro-life, pro-gun, pro-trial lawyer, pro-union, big government Republicans. In some cases, they’re the literal same people.”

Thomas said it was important to identify and find individuals who are involved with the West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, who could be interested in holding office.

“We use opportunities like today to let people know what is going on in Charleston…asking people to get involved in the different associations and get people to run for office,” said Thomas. “We need people and we especially need people that have been involved in a corporate setting, people that have signed the front of a paycheck, people that have been involved in large organizations that have been successful.”