Charleston Daily Mail: Lawsuit abuse ads zero in on WV

CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA. Jake Stump of the Daily Mail Staff reported on Wednesday March 29, 2006 that “West Virginia is target No. 1 in a nationwide advertising spree by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.”

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“The Chamber is plowing $1.5 million into the advertising campaign across the nation. The business organization says it aims to take down unscrupulous trial lawyers and frivolous lawsuits.

By the end of the week, motorists traveling I-64 West near Cross Lanes will see a giant billboard that depicts wads of cash stuffed into a man’s mouth with the words, “Please Don’t Feed the Trial Lawyers.”

The Chamber has already blitzed newspapers and radio stations in the state with ads, too.

The ads appeared in statewide newspapers from Beckley to Wheeling. Radio ads will be broadcast in Beckley, Bluefield, Charleston, Huntington, Morgantown, Parkersburg and Wheeling, said Ginny Smith, spokeswoman for the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform.

In a study revealed this week, West Virginia’s court system was ranked the most unfair tort litigation system in the country. Harris Interactive polling company polled 1,456 lawyers working for businesses that make annual revenues of at least $100 million.

This year’s print ads show a chart ranking the best to worst legal systems. Delaware, Nebraska and Virginia were rated the best. Mississippi, Louisiana and West Virginia were dead last.

The Chamber usually focuses its ad campaign on only the worst states, or ones that have seen a significant change, said Lisa Rickard, IRL president.

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Last year, the Chamber released a West Virginia-only ad featuring a mountain climber and the words, “It’s a long way up, but West Virginians are used to climbing mountains.”

West Virginia ranked 49th in the last four years.

But the Chamber tends to produce positive, inspiring ads, too. Last year, the agency congratulated Gov. Joe Manchin and state legislators on their efforts to curb lawsuit abuse in an ad, though it ended with, “There’s more where that came from.”

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