Robert Wood with Texans Against Lawsuit Abuse.
AUSTIN – A legal reform group says Texans pay an average of $1,943 more for consumer goods and services every year because of excessive litigation, a nearly 13% increase from just one year ago.
The new economic impact study was released February 9 by Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse.
The study says the annual average lawsuit tax nationally is $1,771 per person, placing Texas higher than the national average and meaning consumers are paying more for groceries to housing to insurance because of lawsuits and court awards so massive they are known as nuclear verdicts, according to the CALA study.
“Coupled with Texas recently making the American Tort Reform Foundation’s 2025-2026 Judicial Hellholes Watch List, this latest study points to the need to address loopholes and flaws in our civil justice system,” said Robert Wood, spokesman for Texans Against Lawsuit Abuse. “Our courts should always be used for justice, not greed.”
The study was prepared for CALA by Waco-based economic research firm The Perryman Group. It estimates that, in addition to the state-specific consumer costs, the excessive burden of the U.S. tort system totals $602.3 billion per year and some 5.05 million jobs nationally.
“Our civil justice system is designed to provide proper remedies for injured parties and ensure responsible action,” Wood said. “Instead, we’re seeing abusive legal practices, excessive lawsuits and runaway court awards posing a significant threat to our economy and serious consequences for consumers.
“We all pay a price when our civil justice system is under attack.”
Wood said TALA will continue to urge the Texas lawmakers to rein in nuclear verdicts as one way to address consumer costs.
Between 2009 and 2023, Texas led the nation in the number of nuclear verdicts or court awards of $10 million or more. A total of 207 nuclear verdicts® were awarded in Texas during that time, totaling more than $45 billion – costs TALA says are often ultimately borne by consumers.
Driven by questionable legal practices, nuclear verdicts are a significant cause for concern, Wood said, noting these runaway verdicts are the reason Texas landed on the 2025-2026 Judicial Hellholes Watch List.
“Texas has long been a beacon for common-sense reform of its civil justice system,” Wood said. “It’s clear from this latest economic data analysis from Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse that problems in our civil justice system persist and put our long-term prosperity and strong business climate at risk.
“You don’t have to be a party to one of these lawsuits to pay the price. As the lawsuit tax suggests, Texans from the kitchen table to the office pay more due to excessive costly, frivolous lawsuits and abusive legal tactics.”
Statewide, the Perryman study found lawsuits in Texas drove losses at the local and state level, including:
· $38.9 billion in annual direct costs;
· $60.8 billion each year in gross product;
· $3.2 billion each year in state government revenue;
· $2.6 billion each year in local government revenue; and
· Job losses totaling 508,985.
“Lawsuit abuse can squelch a business’ plans to expand, hire new employees or deliver pay raises,” said Karen Easterling, chair of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse of Central Texas (CALACTX). “It’s vital that we limit the ability of unscrupulous personal injury lawyers to shake down small businesses, lining their pocketbooks and hurting consumers, too.
“We must preserve access to courts for legitimate lawsuits, but today’s get-rich-quick lawsuit environment threatens access and drives up costs for everyone,” she said.
