Freshmen GOP lawmakers gear up for fight with trial lawyers over Louisiana car insurance

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Freshmen Republican House members are moving forward with legislation this year that will likely set up a clash with trial lawyers and Gov. Jeff Landry on measures that would make it harder for people injured in car accidents to win big payouts.

Landry angered the freshmen legislators and their allies in the business community last year by killing one major piece of legislation opposed by trial lawyers and watering down several other measures before agreeing to support them.

Landry and the freshmen legislators sought to be on the same page this year by working out a deal at the Governor’s Mansion on March 26 on a package of bills that they all could support, several legislators said. But where that agreement stands is not clear after Landry and five legislative leaders met at a Texas hunting lodge last week with several prominent trial attorneys to discuss car accident legislation.

The trial lawyers there were Gordon McKernan of Baton Rouge, Digger Earles of Lafayette and Todd Townsley of Lake Charles, said the legislators who attended. Also attending was John Condos, a Lake Charles business owner who helps trial lawyers finance their cases, said Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, who was one of the five legislators flown to and from Texas by McKernan.

Given the uncertainty following that meeting, the freshmen say they will advance their bills during the legislative session that begins Monday.

They had been thinking of holding back two car insurance bills that they know the governor and the trial lawyers oppose – in return for Landry supporting other measures, lawmakers said.

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Landry is holding a press conference Wednesday to announce the insurance measures he will support.

In the meantime, the freshmen said they are determined to pass legislation this year that will end Louisiana’s status as the state with the highest car insurance rates. The trial attorneys lobby, which is one of the most powerful at the Capitol, is likely to oppose several of the measures.

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Rep. Chance Henry, R-Crowley, said solving the insurance crisis is uppermost on the minds of his constituents.

“They are more prone to blame the billboards than the insurance companies. They want a solution. That’s what I was sent to Baton Rouge to do,” said Henry, who has co-sponsored several of the bills favored by business interests and insurance companies, with the aim of lowering rates.

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One bill opposed by the trial lawyers is House Bill 435. It would cap the damage award for pain and suffering at $5 million.

“It needs the light of day,” said Rep. Peter Egan, R-Covington, the bill’s sponsor.

Another measure opposed by trial lawyers is House Bill 431 by Rep. Emily Chenevert, R-Baton Rouge.

HB431 would make it harder for big payouts when apportioning blame in an accident where several people are at fault.

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