Upon hearing that HB 837, the new tort reform bill signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis on March 24 would take effect immediately, a tidal wave of lawsuits were filed by plaintiffs lawyers who rushed to file suit in the days before the law was signed. While an uptake in cases was expected, these new filings have smashed previous filing records in the state. 280,122 cases were filed in March 2023 alone, 126.9% higher than the previous record of filed cases in a month set in May 2021.

HB 837 symbolizes the pinnacle of the war between the plaintiff injury community and DeSantis, who, alongside his colleagues previously vowed to end the “cottage industry of litigation” in the state through various measures including eliminating one-way attorney fees, fee multiplies, modernizing Florida’s ”bad faith” law, and shortening the statute of limitations for bringing negligence suits. According to its proponents, the overall changes are intended to minimize litigation and its related costs for the benefit of Florida’s citizens.

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