Next House Speaker promises action on judicial reforms in New Year

The next Speaker of the state House of Delegates says the proposed judicial reforms the Legislature will take up in the New Year are designed to make West Virginia’s court system more fair.

Once the 2015 Regular Legislative Session opens two weeks from Wednesday, lawmakers are expected to see a series of bills, backed by groups like Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse and the Chamber of Commerce, aimed at different aspects of West Virginia’s civil justice system.

Those proposals could include an intermediate court of appeals or damage caps.

 “These are issues that we’ve talked about for several years and wanted to see progress on,” said Del. Tim Armstead (R-Kanawha,40), the leader of the new House Republican majority.

“It’s a fairness issue and, I think when we take that to the people of West Virginia, they will agree and they have already agreed and already urged us to take these steps.”

Earlier this month, the American Tort Reform Association ranked West Virginia #3 in its annual list of “judicial hellholes” nationwide.

Sen. Bill Cole (R-Mercer, 06), the next Senate President, has agreed with that assessment and is joining Armstead in promising that tort reform will be one of the GOP’s legislative priorities.

Those with the West Virginia Association of Justice, made up of the state’s trial lawyers, are pushing back and disputing what they’ve called “a false representation” of the state’s judicial system.

Armstead said West Virginia’s court system should be fair and predictable. “I’m not saying that everything is unfair about it, but there are certainly things that need to be changed,” he said.

The 2015 Regular Legislative Session begins at the State Capitol on Jan. 14.