RMA, Chamber of Commerce blast state liability laws

WASHINGTON (Jan. 30)—The Rubber Manufacturers Association endorsed a U.S. Chamber of Commerce survey showing that states with stringent product liability laws are likely to lose business. More than half of 800-plus corporate attorneys who responded to the survey ranked states' liability systems as "fair" or "poor," and more than three-quarters said state liability systems were a major consideration in deciding where to build a plant. "The survey should be a wake-up call to states that received a negative ranking," RMA President Donald B. Shea said in a news release. The corporate attorneys ranked West Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas as worst for class actions, and Mississippi as the most biased against business in a product liability trial.