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Let’s talk about tort reform… and lawyer-legislators.
Last year’s bill took a step toward addressing South Carolina’s broken liquor liability system, an issue that has been crushing small businesses and driving up the cost of doing business across our state.
But let’s be honest: it didn’t go far enough.
For years, South Carolina businesses (both small, family-owned shops and larger employers) have been calling for real lawsuit reform. What they’ve gotten instead is incremental movement, when what’s needed is meaningful change.
One way we can deliver true reform is by embracing proportional liability, where businesses are only held responsible for their actual share of fault (not being treated as deep pockets).
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And it shouldn’t stop at liquor liability! The same legal environment impacting bars and restaurants is affecting businesses across every sector.
Reform will drive down the cost of insurance in our state and make it more favorable for small businesses.
But it would be remiss of me to position this simply as policy disagreement, because it’s really a structural problem.
South Carolina’s legal system is heavily influenced by a lawyer-legislator class that benefits from maintaining the status quo. When the same individuals writing the laws are also profiting from the litigation those laws enable, it creates a system that protects itself, not the people it’s supposed to serve.
Unfortunately, the trial lawyer lobby is fundamentally opposed to South Carolina businesses’ ability to operate, grow, and survive.
Last year made that reality clear.
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RELATED | BOUGHT AND PAID FOR
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Businesses owners advocating for tort reform were outspent, outmaneuvered, and outmessaged.
Trial lawyer interests poured resources into lobbying, media, and coordinated campaigns on X, shaping public perception and influencing outcomes while small businesses struggled just to stay afloat!
If we’re serious about protecting South Carolina’s economy, we can’t keep offering lip service to tort reform.
Re-elect my opponent, lawyer-legislator David Martin, and you’ll get more of the same.
We need to fix the system! It needs to be fair and transparent.
Send me to Columbia and I’ll work with those who want to tackle this problem. Together, I know we can stand up to the lawyer-legislators and get this done.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Dr. Elizabeth Enns is a wife and mother who passionately cares about Fort Mill and the well-being of all those who live there. She has been a servant leader in the community for 19 years and has been involved politically as a Constitutional grassroots organizer for the conservative movement in South Carolina since 2021.
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