North Carolina in top ten for favorable litigation climate

_{North Carolina in the top ten among states viewed as having a favorable litigation environment, coming in at number 7, according to a survey by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. The state’s ranking is up from number 13 previously.}

The survey (http://www.instituteforlegalreform.com/states) sampled 1,203 in-house general counsels, senior litigatores, attorneys, and senior executives nationally at companies with at least $100 million in revenue.

They ranked states on treatment of class action suits, damages, mass consolidation suits, scientific and technical evidence, the competence of judges, voter fairness and other relevant categories.

In a news release, the Institute said, “:These perceptions matter because they can be influential in business decisions about where to conduct/expand/constrict business operations or sales. Three quarters of the respondents in this survey (75%) report that a state’s litigation environment is likely to impact important business decisions at their companies such as where to locate or to do business. This is a significant increase from 70% in 2012 and 67% in 2010.”

North Carolina ranked 70.2 in the survey, while first place Delaware came in at 76.5, Virginia down at 11 with 68.3, Tennessee at 23 with 65.7, and Georgia at 32 with 62.4.

Tort reform was a top item on the NC GOP agenda when they took control of the legislature and a top lobbying item by the North
Carolian state chamber of commerce and it passed a law making it more favorable to businesses.