Tort Reform in Hospitality Industry

Tort law is the body of principles that determines when one who suffers personal injuries may shift that loss to another. Although this body of law has been considered a unified field for only a century or so, the principles themselves are of ancient vintage. Despite their antiquity, however, modern tort law is one of the most rapidly changing and controversial areas of American law (Deakin, 3).

There has been furious debate going on with regards to tort reforms and their effect on the tourism and hospitality industry. Some of the proponents say that these tort reforms would usher in a new era of job openings enabling the unemployed personnel to have a sigh of relief.

Tort reform advocates argue that the present tort system is too expensive, that merit less lawsuits clog up the courts, that per capita tort costs vary significantly from state to state, and that trial attorneys customarily receive an unusually large percentage of the punitive damages awarded to plaintiffs in tort cases, as it is common for attorneys to obtain the statutory maximum one-third of the award when work is done on contingency (O'Connell, 106).

A Towers Perrin report indicates that U. S. tort costs were up slightly in 2007, are expected to significantly increase in 2008, and shows trends dating back as far as 1950. High-profile tort cases are often portrayed by the media as the legal system's version of a lottery, where trial lawyers actively seek the magic combination of plaintiff, defendant, judge, and jury. Advocates of tort reform complain of unconstitutional regulation caused by litigation, and that litigation is used to circumvent the legislative process by achieving regulation that Congress is unwilling or unable to pass (jht.sagepub.com). Underpinning all the different iterations of the insurer's tort reform campaign is a ...