The American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) has placed Michigan on its “Heat Watch” list in the new Legislative HeatCheck report, citing a surge of liability-expanding legislation that could further deteriorate the state’s legal climate.
“While Michigan’s legislative session is still ongoing, lawmakers are pursuing an entire slate of bills that would open new avenues for lawsuit abuse,” said Tiger Joyce, ATRA president. “The trial bar’s aggressive agenda is on full display this session.”
Michigan recently repealed a major liability protection when Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed Senate Bill 410 in December. Sponsored by Democratic state Senator Jeff Irwin, the bill removed a safeguard that had been in place for over 25 years, which deferred to the FDA’s expertise on product safety and warning labels.
“Repealing the FDA defense law is a gift to the personal injury bar that will inevitably lead to more lawsuits second-guessing the scientific judgments of our nation’s top drug regulators,” Joyce stated. “Allowing unlimited litigation against manufacturers of FDA-approved products will make medications less affordable and less accessible for Michigan families.”
ATRA’s Legislative HeatCheck also highlighted several pending pieces of concerning legislation:
“The flurry of liability-expanding bills working their way through Lansing reads like a trial lawyer’s wish list,” Joyce remarked. “If enacted, this onslaught would make Michigan’s civil justice system incredibly imbalanced and make the state an outlier.”
Last year, Michigan was named a “Judicial Hellhole®” due to its high court expanding liability and the legislature’s pursuit of the trial bar’s agenda. The American Tort Reform Foundation’s 2023-2024 report ranked Lansing at No. 6 among the worst civil justice systems in the country.
Excessive tort costs impose a $1,046 “tort tax” on every Michigander annually while sapping 97,167 jobs from the state economy.
“This aggressive slate of bills in Michigan could open a Pandora’s box of new litigation woes if legislators don’t wake up and rebalance the scales of justice soon,” Joyce warned.
ATRA’s Legislative HeatCheck report evaluates select states’ progress—or lack thereof—in enacting meaningful tort reform measures during their most recent legislative sessions. Alongside Michigan, California and New Jersey were also named to the “Heat Watch” list. The full Legislative HeatCheck report is available at heatcheck.atra.org.
