With Clock Ticking, Florida’s Gov. Bush Pushes Tort Reform
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On Wednesday, Itzy Cueli, who was raped outside Bally’s Fitness Center in Kendall, Fla., in 2000, is scheduled to testify before the Florida Legislature against a Republican-backed bill to make it much harder for crime victims to sue businesses. She is one of three women who were raped outside the Bally’s facility that year. The rapist later admitted that he targeted the spot. After the attacks, Bally’s management significantly beefed up security. Michael Haggard, a Coral Gables, Fla., plaintiffs lawyer representing the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, said the premises liability bill would have blocked the three women from seeking legal redress against Bally’s. The bill is just one element in a sweeping set of controversial tort lawsuit restrictions that Gov. Jeb Bush and Republican legislative leaders are pushing through the Legislature this spring. It’s one of the most dramatic packages of tort law changes ever seen in Florida. More : law.com |