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Tort 'reformers' have frivolous case, economists say.

Article Excerpt
When tort "reformers" make their case for restricting consumer rights, one of their most-used sources of information is Tillinghast-Towers Perrin (TTP), a global consulting firm that publishes a yearly report on the costs of the tort system to the U.S. economy. The most recent study, U.S. Tort Costs: 2004 Update, puts the figure at $246 billion. TTP's numbers are frequently quoted in advertisements and publications that attack trial lawyers, such as the "shark bait" ad produced by America's Health Insurance Plans.

But a new, independent study of the TTP report finds that the firm's analysis is "one-sided," "misleading," and generally resting on shaky ground. The briefing paper, The Frivolous Case for Tort Law Change, is written by economists Lawrence Chimerine and Ross Eisenbrey and published by the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a nonpartisan think tank. Chimerine is the managing director and chief...

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