The Perryman Group notes that wide ranging lawsuit reforms passed in Texas, beginning in 1995, have markedly contributed to the economic competitiveness and job growth in the state. Those reforms include:
| 1995 | The Texas Legislature limited punitive damages, reformed joint and several liability, and restricted venue shopping. The Deceptive Trade Practices Act was restored to its original purpose of protecting consumers in ordinary consumer transactions. The Legislature enacted a half dozen other reforms to curtail specific lawsuit abuses. |
| 1995 - 2003 | A variety of reforms were enacted, including restrictions on lawsuits filed by residents of other states and countries and the imposition of reasonable standards to prevent the abuses that led to the scandals surrounding the tobacco settlement. |
| 2003 | The Texas Legislature enacted comprehensive reforms governing medical liability litigation, including a $750,000 limit on non-economic damages; initiated product liability reforms; made the burden of proving punitive damages similar to criminal law, requiring a unanimous jury verdict; comprehensively reformed the statutes governing joint and several liability and class action lawsuits; imposed limits on appeal bonds, enabling defendants to appeal their lawsuits and not be forced into settlements; further limited the filing of lawsuits that should have been brought in other states or countries; as well as enacting other targeted reforms. |
| 2003 | Voters approved a constitutional amendment to eliminate potential court challenges to the law capping non-economic damages in medical cases at $750,000. |
| 2005 | The Texas Legislature curtailed abusive asbestos/silica lawsuits. |
| 2007 | The Texas Legislature closed a loophole in state venue law that had created an avalanche of lawsuits against the dredging industry and threatened Texas’ critical maritime industry. |
