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A coalition of Indiana business groups are joining forces with lobbying firm the Corydon Group to create a nonprofit focused on business-friendly civil and tort law reforms.
The new group is called the Indiana Alliance for Legal Reform. Its board members included representatives from the Indiana Motor Truck Association, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and the Indiana Manufacturers Association.
In a press release, the group says it’s focused on curbing “frivolous lawsuits and control excessive and unjust jury awards for non-economic damages,” among other initiatives, to create a more predictable legal environment for businesses.
Corydon Group Vice President of Governmental Affairs Stephen Wolff will serve as the alliance’s executive director.
“The Hoosier business community is watching trends across the country and is concerned,” Wolff said in a written statement. “Common-sense reforms that balance the system and provide the predictability businesses need to operate are crucial to maintaining Indiana’s business advantage.”
The alliance’s board will consist of Indiana Motor Truck Association CEO Gary Langston, Indiana Chamber of Commerce CEO Vanessa Green Sinders and Indiana Manufacturers CEO Andrew Berger.
“Lawsuits are draining America’s economy,” Langston, the board’s chair, said in a written statement. “Lawsuit abuse has risen to the top of the list of the trucking industry’s concerns and is negatively affecting our nation’s GDP, job growth and consumer prices. Hoosier business leaders are ready to act.”
Former Indiana Senate President Pro Tem David Long is assisting the alliance with government and media relations. Long, who served in the Senate for 22 years and as Senate leader for 12, stepped down from the Legislature in 2018.
The group cites measures passed in Florida and Georgia in recent years as templates for what they hope Hoosier lawmakers will consider.
In 2023, Florida passed a series of reforms pertaining to business- and insurance-related lawsuits including tying personal injury damages to actual medical costs and requiring each side to cover its own legal fees. Florida’s business community credits another change from pure negligence to comparative negligence in injury lawsuits with lowering auto insurance premiums by more than 6% on average among the state’s five largest insurers.
Georgia passed a package of similar reforms in August designed to tie lawsuit payouts in negligence cases more closely to medical costs incurred. A related provision of Georgia’s bill clarifies that defense attorneys may only argue the monetary value of noneconomic damages in closing arguments of trials if it is related to the evidence of the case.
The Indiana alliance says it hopes to build on efforts like House Enrolled Act 1160, which passed in 2024 and curtails certain activities of civil litigation financiers.
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform, Indiana ranked No. 31 in the organization’s 2019 lawsuit climate survey, which seeks to understand the costs and compensation in the U.S. tort system, down from No. 4 in 2010.
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