Behrens: 2023 Civil Justice Update
From efforts in the plaintiffs’ bar to increase awards in wrongful death cases to consumer data privacy laws attracting significant attention, Shook Public Policy Practice Group Co-Chair Mark Behrens has assembled a roundup of significant legal reform trends in 2023 in a white paper published by the Federalist Society.
In the white paper, titled “2023 Civil Justice Update,” Behrens said that while some state lawmakers enacted liability-expanding laws, two states enacted significant pro-business tort liability laws: Florida and Montana. Behrens also discusses changes to the Federal Rules of Evidence that took place in December, including an amendment to the Federal Rule of Evidence 702.
“The rule clarifies how the rule is to be applied to correct rulings by many courts that had incorrectly applied the prior version adopted in 2000,” he said. “Courts and practitioners must now take care to avoid citing flawed case law and rely on the text of the new rule for deciding Rule 702 motions.”
The white paper also summarizes key developments regarding American Law Institute reinstatement projects, liability law changes at the state level in 2023, and cases addressing the constitutionality of state civil justice reforms.
