Understanding the Legal Process | EZ Justice, PLC Lawyers Like State’s Civil Liability System Jan 24, 2002 BY ALAN COOPER TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER © 2002, Richmond Newspapers Inc. Top corporate counsels view Virginia’s civil liability system as the second most favorable to business among the 50 states, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive. Only Delaware ranked higher. Washington, Kansas and Iowa rounded out the top five. Those perceived as the worst were Mississippi, West Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. Hired by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Harris Interactive made the ratings based on phone interviews with 824 senior attorneys at companies with annual revenue of at least $100 million. Almost half were from companies with annual revenue of $1 billion or more. The respondents were asked to rank the states in areas such as the overall treatment of tort and contract litigation, class actions, punitive damages, timeliness and the impartiality and competence of judges, and the predictability and fairness of juries. Virginia was in the top five in the overall treatment of litigation, punitive damages, timeliness and judicial competence. The state ranked 19th in jury predictability and 15th in fairness of juries. More than three-fourths of the respondents […]
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