WASHINGTON – Executives of large public corporations gave Maryland a C for the “perceived fairness” of its litigation system, according to a survey released Tuesday.
The Harris Poll, conducted for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, surveyed more than 800 corporate attorneys across the nation, who ranked Maryland No. 22 out of the 50 states.
Two neighboring states — Delaware and Virginia — were ranked first and second, respectively, for the fairness of their legal systems.
Maryland Economic Development Secretary David S. Iannucci said Tuesday he was disappointed with the survey’s findings, which he said “are not an accurate portrayal of Maryland’s tort laws.”
“Maryland is one of four states that retains contributory negligence standard, which is a very strong pro-business factor,” he said. Contributory negligence makes it harder for a plaintiff to collect in a lawsuit for damages to which he or she may have contributed.
Even though the survey does “place Maryland above average, the data and feedback that we have would place Maryland in the top 10,” Iannucci said.
The telephone survey, from Nov. 7 to Dec. 11, was based on response from 824 corporate general counsels and senior litigators at companies with annual revenues of at least $100 million. Eighty-six of the respondents were from insurance companies.
Participants were asked to give letter grades to all 50 states based on laws that affect businesses. The survey also asked about judges’ impartiality and competence, juries’ fairness, timeliness of summary judgement/dismissal, discovery and scientific and technical evidence.
Maryland got a grade of C for: tort and contract litigation; treatment of class-action suits; punitive damages; timeliness of summary judgment and/or dismissal; discovery; jury predictability; and jury fairness. The state got a C- plus for: scientific and technical evidence, judges’ impartiality; and judges’ competence.
The survey also found that an overwhelming majority, 78 percent, said a state’s litigation environment affects important decisions such as where a company will locate or do business.
“It should come as no surprise that most businesses take into account a state’s liability climate when making decisions,” said Chamber President and CEO Thomas Donohue, in a statement.
“The degree to which a state is willing to protect business owners from money-hungry class-action lawyers, is the degree to which they’ll find business eager to work there,” he said.
Officials from the Maryland Chamber of Commerce and the Maryland Trial Lawyers Association declined to comment on the report, which they had not seen Tuesday.
But one Maryland lawyer and law professor defended the state.
“Maryland’s general corporation law is comparable or better to that of Delaware’s,” said James Hanks Jr., a partner in the law firm of Ballard Spahr in Baltimore. Hanks, who is an adjunct professor at Cornell Law School, also said that in his experience, Maryland’s judges are fair, responsive and well informed.
Besides Delaware and Virginia, the other top-ranked states in the survey were Washington, Kansas and Iowa. The worst-performing states were Mississippi, West Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas.