The Louisiana Senate is about to vote on legislation that could unleash hordes of personal injury lawyers to investigate and harass businesses and individuals across the state in the hopes of securing lucrative settlements for themselves.

SB 731 by Senator Joel Chaisson would allow personal injury lawyers to sue on behalf of the state and grab as much as 25 percent of any cash awarded to the state. Such contingency fee contracts will have a chilling effect on Louisiana jobs and economic growth and encourage more and more lawsuits to be filed.

This legislation is harmful and unnecessary. The Louisiana attorney general can already hire private attorneys to pursue legitimate legal claims on behalf of the state. Under current law, he can (and does) pay for outside counsel based on a scheduled hourly rate, not a percentage of the “take.” That’s the way it should be.

Private attorneys, once hired to pursue a lawsuit on a percentage fee basis, have incentives different from the elected officials who hired them. While the Attorney General is a public official who’s sworn to protect the interests of our state, an attorney working on contingency has only one incentive — monetary gain.

Contact Your State Senator Today

SB 731 would empower some personal injury lawyers to become “bounty hunters” working under the guise of the Attorney General’s office, and that does not serve the people’s best interest. Please contact your senator and urge him/ her to oppose this dangerous bill.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE ACTION NOW.

Melissa Landry is Executive Director of Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch. LLAW is a non-partisan, non-profit, citizen watchdog group dedicated to stopping lawsuit abuse that hurts Louisiana families and threatens our jobs and health care. Learn more at www.LLAW.org or follow us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/ReformLouisiana.