By: Will Folks https://www.fitsnews.com/2026/01/27/sc-republican-voters-end-lawsuit-abuse/ Last week, we spoke with leaders of South Carolina’s trucking industry as they sounded the alarm ( literally ) regarding the increasingly costly and pernicious impacts of lawsuit abuse in the Palmetto State. Truckers have been the tip of the spear when it comes to pushing back against the corrupt , corrosive influence of the über-wealthy, über-influential South Carolina trial lawyer lo

By: Sydney Dunlap https://www.postandcourier.com/free-times/food/columbia-sc-bars-restaurants-liquor-liability-legislation/article_26e3ec61-93f8-4bde-8bd1-2314f6ee60c4.html COLUMBIA — A new hope. That’s what South Carolina bars and restaurants were looking for when an updated insurance law for their businesses passed in May after much debate and hand-wringing. Many owners remember holding on to that hope in the beginning of the process. Phill Blair, a co-owner at West Columb

By: The Editorial Board https://mcusercontent.com/e1238d5f6560fa573eebd96e3/files/12dfebbc-e74a-6c38-25e5-b385cc26692c/WSJ_Printing_Florida_rsquo_s_Insurance_Reform_Lesson_for_New_York.pdf DeSantis’s success, with auto insurers slashing premiums, could be a model for Hochul. Who would have predicted that insurance reform would become a bipartisan cause du jour? Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis this week announced more auto and home insurance premium reductions thanks to legal reform

By: James Tutten https://www.wftv.com/news/local/uber-riders-seeing-cheaper-trips-florida-due-lower-insurance-costs/WZXKSW2OMVHRNCCQ2Q3WVPCVJM/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=rasa_io&utm_campaign=newsletter ORLANDO, Fla. — New data from Uber shows riders are saving money on trips thanks to lower insurance costs. Uber riders have saved about $10 million since March due to lower insurance costs, which have contributed to fare increases in Florida being up to 6% lower than in other

By: NBC6 https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/desantis-to-speak-in-davie-ahead-of-florida-legislative-session/3747503/ DeSantis announced the decrease at a news conference in Davie on Monday, where he said that policyholders with Citizens Property Insurance, the state’s insurer of last resort, will receive average reductions of 8.7% statewide, while discounts in South Florida counties will be even greater. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a significant decrease in homeowner

A new South Carolina law aims to lower insurance costs for business owners, but those same owners say they’re still feeling the squeeze. https://www.wrdw.com/video/2026/01/10/sc-bars-see-rising-insurance-costs-despite-tort-reform-law/

By: Ray Sugrim https://www.propertycasualty360.com/2026/01/09/insurer-wont-have-to-defend-bar-in-wrongful-death-suit/ A South Carolina District Court granted summary judgment in favor of an insurer, ruling that they were not obligated to defend or indemnify a bar involved in a wrongful death lawsuit . The case is Burlington Ins. Co. v. Lowery's Soc. Club, 2025 LX 186410 (D.S.C. 2025). Background The wrongful death lawsuit arose from an incident at Lowery’s Social Club on No

By: Chad Hemenway https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2026/01/08/853566.htm The value of the 10 highest class-action settlements in 2025 exceeded $70 billion for the first time ever. In fact, the total was nearer to $80 billion across all areas of litigation, according to law firm Duane Morris. For the fourth straight year, total settlements eclipsed the $40 billion mark. Gerald L. Maatman, co-author of the Duane Morris Class Action Review and chair of the firm’s

By: Will Folks https://www.fitsnews.com/2026/01/02/the-war-for-justice-in-south-carolina-three-critical-fronts-to-follow/ Where the battle lines are being drawn… The upcoming year will go a long way in determining whether South Carolina becomes safer, freer and more prosperous – or whether the Palmetto State’s powerful trial lawyer lobby cements its stranglehold over the corrupt uni-party establishment that runs the “GOP-controlled” S.C. General Assembly. You know, the same

By: Anna Wilder https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/insurance-liquor-lawmakers-liability-jan-1/article_d2093a9c-0e92-40fe-9387-baeb68b84355.html COLUMBIA — Starting Jan. 1, South Carolina will implement a new insurance law for restaurants and bars, a move some lawmakers hope will bring relief to an industry battered by years of rising costs and legal uncertainty. Not all impacted by the price hikes are convinced the changes will help as intended. Lawmakers reached a last-

By: Leah Phillips https://www.wyff4.com/article/beloved-upstate-bar-closes-after-liquor-liability-insurance-costs-surge/69872165 The Dapper Dog in Mauldin, S.C., has become a home away from home for its customers, which includes both humans and their four-legged friends. MAULDIN, S.C. — The Dapper Dog in Mauldin, South Carolina, has become a home away from home for its customers, which includes both humans and their four-legged friends. However, the bar will officially close

By: LINDSAY LEWIS AND PHIL GOLDBERG https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/5651240-foreign-influence-litigation-funding/ America’s civil justice system has long been the envy of the world. For 250 years, it has been the keystone of our economic and political liberties, providing a forum for individuals and businesses to redress wrongs and resolve disputes.  Today, this public good is at risk. Hedge funds, foreign wealth funds and other investors are transforming American court

By: Insurance Journal https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2025/12/17/851483.htm Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King announced more auto insurance rate reductions for motorists in the state—the second announcement in as many months. King credited tort-reform laws and stepped-up efforts to combat insurance fraud. “As we continue the OCI mission to build a fair and affordable insurance marketplace, I am confident that we will see rates further decline across Geo

By: USA Business Insurance Services https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-average-small-business-liability-claim-now-costs-97-200--302642928.html BURBANK, Calif., Dec. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- New national data shows that medical costs and other factors have led to a steep increase in the cost of liability claims. The new average claim cost for liability claims in the US is $97,200. This cost point is alarming, and it clearly threatens the survival of small businesses

By: Jenn Wood https://www.fitsnews.com/2025/12/15/a-coordinated-scheme-state-senators-legal-exposure-expands/ New motion claims bank enabled Josh Kimbrell’s alleged scheme to defraud his business partner… South Carolina state senator Josh Kimbrell is facing yet another legal setback as his former business partner moved earlier this month to dramatically expand the civil-fraud lawsuit already threatening his political career. Last Monday (December 8, 2025), attorneys for Gree

By: Will Folks https://www.fitsnews.com/2025/12/13/scandal-scarred-s-c-senator-received-personal-loan-from-powerful-trial-lawyer/ One of South Carolina’s most powerful and politically connected trial lawyers has quietly extended a loan to a state senator embroiled in a nasty divorce – one caused by an affair the senator had with a political operative tied to the nefarious trial lawyer lobby. Peter Protopapas – a Columbia, S.C. attorney and member of the state’s much-maligned

By: Alan Hovorka https://www.postandcourier.com/news/crime/charleston-bond-walter-pate-assault/article_dc49c1d2-5625-4bb2-85e5-2f3afe0eaad4.html CHARLESTON — A man out of jail while facing charges of sexual assault, kidnapping and attempted murder has been arrested in connection with another alleged assault and kidnapping. Walter Clayton Pate was arrested late Dec. 10 by the Charleston Police Department, which charged him with first-degree assault and battery, first-degree b

By: Stephen Moore https://nsjonline.com/article/2025/12/moore-stop-the-trial-lawyer-tax/ Trial lawyers have been the bane of U.S. employers for many decades, sucking blood out of the economy like a swarm of mosquitos. The most famous case was back in the 1990s, when the courts awarded a $500,000 judgment to a McDonald’s customer who claimed she was burned by coffee that was too scalding hot. Then there was the Washington man who sued a dry cleaner for $50 million for losing a

By: Kaitlin Maness https://www.hannapub.com/ouachitacitizen/news/local_state_headlines/claims-drive-up-insurance-premiums/article_9534c379-3588-40e4-ae0e-e89b3486bd0c.html Commercial auto insurance premiums continue to rise in Louisiana, though private passenger auto insurance premiums have started to decrease, state Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple says. Temple visited West Monroe Tuesday to discuss recent auto insurance reform and what else needs to be done to make auto in

By: Jerry Theodorou https://www.rstreet.org/commentary/attorney-advertising-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/?utm_campaign=Website%20subscribers%20-%20General&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--CBraYUQRAMP3XQuSchlb0GVXbN2mOpC53X42sqsdVdro0oBRzXPtjiyvyCcDA7l2EzvpmuO1iUQf2saKZR3LL5Ceqgw&_hsmi=393017656&utm_content=393017656&utm_source=hs_email If it seems there are more billboards advertising legal services on our highways and in our cities, it’s because there are. The number of rad