WASHINGTON – A national tort reform group is calling out the West Virginia State Senate Judiciary Committee after it says the panel killed two key legal reform bills.
The Legislative HeatCheck report from the American Tort Reform Association labeled the committee a “Lawsuit Inferno” in a July 29 report, which also cited dozens of bills ATRA says would have expanded liability.
Joyce
“The Senate Judiciary Committee’s inaction means West Virginians still lack meaningful oversight and transparency in how lawsuits are filed in their communities,” ATRA President Tiger Joyce said. “While killing these common-sense bills, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee also sponsored 22 bills that would expand liability in West Virginia.”
The president of a statewide legal reform group said he was “disappointed, but not surprised” by the report.
Thomas
“West Virginia had a ton of momentum with respect to legal reform and our overall economic improvements over the past decade,” Greg Thomas with West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse told The West Virginia Record. “However, recent shifts in the State Senate’s approach suggest a departure from that momentum, with policies that appear more aligned with the interests of personal injury lawyers.
“WV CALA remains committed to informing the public about how these decisions could affect our state’s economy and healthcare system moving forward.”
The president of a statewide group for trial attorneys said ATRA’s “only goal is to gut our civil justice system to increase their corporate profits at the expense of our constitutional rights.”
Reed
“West Virginians should thank the legislators who rejected ATRA’s bad bills,” Kelly Reed with the West Virginia Association for Justice told The Record. “Those lawmakers put their constituents and their rights first — not corporate billionaires.”
ATRA's Legislative HeatCheck report evaluates a select group of states’ progress — or lack thereof — in enacting meaningful tort reform measures during their most recent legislative sessions.
The West Virginia Senate Judiciary Committee joins the Florida House of Representatives, and the state legislatures of Illinois, Colorado, New York and Virginia as 2025 “Lawsuit Infernos.”
In the report, ATRA says two Senate bills would have enhanced transparency and restored balance to the state’s civil justice system. Both of the bills – one about medical monitoring reform and the other about public transparency in government litigation – died in the Judiciary Committee “despite strong support from legal reform advocates,” ATRA said.
Senate Bill 473, sponsored by Republicans Eric Tarr and Ryan Weld, would have clarified when plaintiffs can recover damages for future medical monitoring. It would have required proof of an actual medical condition caused by the defendant, preventing lawsuits based on hypothetical risks alone.
Senate Bill 543, sponsored by Tarr and fellow Republican Vince Deeds, would have made local government lawsuits more transparent and accountable, ensuring taxpayers dollars are responsibly spent.
“This was a missed opportunity to build basic trust through courtroom transparency, but lawmakers chose to push the trial bar’s agenda instead,” Joyce said. “Absent reform, the door remains open to unchecked legal action behind closed doors.”
The report also says members of the committee sponsored nearly 85 percent of all liability-expanding bills introduced in the Senate this year.
Sen. Patricia Rucker (R-Monongalia) sponsored 10 liability-expanding bills this year. According to West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, Rucker received nearly $25,000 from personal injury lawyers in Charleston and Morgantown.
The report also names five other Senate Judiciary members for sponsoring such bills. They are Vice Chairman Tom Willis (R-Berkeley), Kevin Bartlett (R-Kanawha), Brian Helton (R-Fayette), Mike Azinger (R-Wood) and Jay Taylor (R-Taylor).
West Virginia long held the top spot on ATRA’s annual Judicial Hellholes list. The state gave up that spot in 2017, shortly after Republicans took over both houses of the state Legislature. The state even has been praised in recent Hellholes reports.
But Joyce says these recent Senate Judiciary issues “raise alarms.”
“The state Legislature must work harder to keep its promises to West Virginians and support the enactment of meaningful tort reform laws to remain competitive and attract businesses,” Joyce said. “Without continued progress, West Virginia risks sliding back into its former status as a Judicial Hellhole.”
Reed said the state has faced ATRA’s “false attacks and fake ‘studies’ for more than 20 years.
“The global corporate billionaires behind this campaign don’t care about fair courts and justice,” she said. “One rejected bill would have stripped local governments of their right to hire attorneys, handing control to Charleston.
“If Wheeling or the Raleigh County Commission wants to hire a lawyer, that’s their decision — not the state’s. The Senate Judiciary Committee was right to defend local authority and stop government overreach.”
Reed also called the medical monitoring bill “a zombie bill.”
“Some version has been introduced annually since 2016, and it has been rejected annually,” she said. “In 2021, lawmakers amended the bill to address ATRA’s stated concerns, but then ATRA killed it.
“In 2022, House leadership removed the bill from the House special calendar. In 2023 Chamber-endorsed Del. Moore Capito, who chaired House Judiciary, removed it from the committee agenda in the middle of debate on the bill.
“ATRA cannot blame the 2025 Senate Judiciary Committee when it’s had 10 years to get it passed.”
Reed said the bill keeps failing “because our state lawmakers want to protect West Virginians.”
“They believe that when citizens are exposed to dangerous toxins that the corporation responsible should pay for medical testing so deadly, latent diseases like cancer are discovered and treated,” she said. “This early testing and diagnosis can be the difference between life and death.
“The truth is that the woke global corporations and billionaires funding ATRA are attacking the legislative Republican leadership and our lawmakers because they put our rights, our health, and our safety first — not increasing corporate profits. They don’t want legislators who do what’s best for their constituents. They want legislators who will kowtow to their demands and give them what they want.
“West Virginia needs lawmakers who believe our people are more important than corporate profits.”
