By NATALIE CARROLL
Guest Columnist
Imagine your favorite local business forced to close, not because of poor service or lack of customers, but because a trial lawyer saw an opportunity for a quick payday.
Despite what the billboard and TV ads claim, too many trial lawyers are often in pursuit of a check by any means necessary. Whether by coercing plaintiffs into meritless lawsuits or receiving funding from shadowy third parties to drive settlements sky-high, excessive litigation inflicts real costs: higher prices for consumers, decreased innovation, and diminished job creation.
Business owners, workers, and consumers alike bear the burden of a broken litigation system. Excessive tort costs and settlements, secretive third-party litigation funding, and billboard lawyers promoting frivolous claims all contribute to an unfair and unjust legal environment.
When these abuses overrun a state’s justice system, everyone pays the price. Hoosier families and businesses deserve a litigation system that delivers justice without serving special interests or driving up costs.
Change is necessary. In the upcoming legislative session, lawmakers should advance reforms that promote a fair and transparent justice system – one that encourages economic growth and protects consumer affordability rather than undermining them.
We’ve already seen what effective legislative reform looks like. In Georgia, Governor Kemp’s comprehensive reform package, signed into law in April 2025, marked a transformative shift toward a more predictable and balanced legal environment. These reforms tackled the root causes of excessive litigation and reduced the risk of financial strain from frivolous lawsuits – particularly by reforming premises liability standards, eliminating phantom damages, and increasing transparency in third-party litigation funding (TPLF).
Georgia is not the only state where legal reforms are delivering results. In Florida, legislation enacted in 2022 and 2023 to combat excessive tort costs has already produced measurable benefits for consumers. Top auto insurers reported an average 6.5 percent rate reduction, while a leading property insurer announced statewide decreases of 8.4 percent for homeowner policies and 12 percent for condos. By reshaping policies affecting personal injury claims and litigation against insurers, Florida lawmakers took a crucial step toward lowering the cost of living and safeguarding the fairness of their justice system.
These examples make clear that commonsense reform packages foster a balanced legal environment – one in which consumers, families, workers, and businesses all benefit, rather than trial lawyers and third-party litigation funders.
Building on recent reforms such as House Enrolled Act 1160, signed into law in 2024 – which introduced critical transparency to third-party litigation funding and reaffirmed that lawsuits must serve the cause of justice rather than hidden financial interests – Indiana’s business community has established the Indiana Alliance for Legal Reform. Modeled after successful initiatives in Georgia and Florida, the Alliance is committed to advancing policies that ensure Indiana companies can depend on fairness, consistency, and predictability in the courtroom, rather than confronting a system tilted against them. The Alliance is supported by a growing coalition of leading businesses and trade associations across the state.
Now is the time for our state to lead by rebalancing our legal environment towards fairness and transparency.
The consequences of inaction are clear. Businesses faced with excessive litigation fees are forced to raise prices and pause expansion plans, all while our state becomes less competitive, deterring investment and job growth. Indiana households are also bearing the brunt, shouldering nearly $3,000 each in tort costs in 2024, totaling more than $7.8 billion statewide, or about 1.7 percent of our state’s GDP.
These staggering numbers show the dire and immediate costs of an out-of-control legal landscape on Indiana’s consumers, workers, and companies – especially our small businesses on main street, who often are unfairly targeted by opportunistic plaintiffs’ lawyers. Our citizens deserve a balanced and equitable litigation environment that promotes jobs, lowers prices, supports small businesses, and keeps Indiana competitive, not one that rewards manipulation and abuse in our legal system.
To build on this momentum, we urge lawmakers to lead on this critical issue by enacting legislation that combats excessive litigation and abuse in our justice system. Georgia’s reforms prove that comprehensive legal reform works: businesses can redirect funds that would otherwise be spent on litigation costs toward innovation, expansion, and hiring. Let’s continue this momentum in Indiana to protect our consumers, support our businesses, and foster a fair and equitable litigation environment that works for everyone.
Natalie Carroll is the Indiana State Director for the National Federation of Independent Business.