Chamber Poll Gives Mississippi Legal System 'F'; Harris Survey, National Ad Campaign Highlight Best to Worst States.

Business Editors/Legal Writers

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 9, 2003

The United States Chamber of Commerce's second annual poll of corporate counselors and senior litigators on the fairness or reasonableness of state liability systems again placed Mississippi at the bottom of the class (50th) and continued to find a majority of states deserve a grade of fair to poor.

"When abusive lawsuits rush in, new jobs stay out," said Thomas Donohue, Chamber President and CEO. "States must know that if they maintain legal systems that are unfair for companies, those companies can and will go elsewhere."

Through interviews with more than 900 corporate attorneys, the Chamber Institute for Legal Reform and Harris Interactive found an overwhelming majority of those polled (82 percent) said a state's litigation environment affects important decisions, such as where to locate or do business. And 65 percent ranked state court liability systems as only "fair" or "poor," up from 57 percent last year.

Along with Mississippi, other states with a failing grade - those states perceived as having the worst performance - include West Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. The Chamber is running full-page ads in national newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, and in select newspapers in states at the bottom of the list. The states with the best legal systems were Delaware, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and Indiana.

"Our ad campaign highlights the terrible price of having a legal system that falls short," Donohue added. "Mississippi legislators deserve credit for passing important legal reforms last year, but more improvements are needed to attract businesses that will create more jobs, more investment and more revenues to pay for schools, roads and health care."

Survey respondents - companies with annual revenues of at least $100 million - were asked to grade all 50 states based on: treatment of class action suits, punitive damages, timeliness of summary judgment/dismissal, discovery, scientific and technical evidence, judges' impartiality and competence, and juries' fairness and predictability.

The United States Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector and region. The mission of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform is to make America's legal system simpler, fairer and faster for everyone.