Any company owner, whether the business is large or small, understands the importance of fair laws to protect the company in the event of a lawsuit. The outcome of business litigation can bring a corporation to its knees–and, unfortunately, many unfair lawsuits have been filed by unscrupulous entities with no regard to the harm they cause companies, customers and taxpayers.
Various legal reforms by Texas lawmakers may have further strengthened the state’s status as being corporation-friendly, especially when it comes to protecting business owners from abusive lawsuits, tortuous interference and deceptive trade practices. For 10 years in a row, Texas has been named by numerous top CEOs as the best state to operate a business, in large part to these reforms. Many large national corporations, including Toyota, have begun relocating their operations to Texas from other states that are known for permitting judicial injustices, such as California and New York. This has the potential to greatly increase Texas’ business economy and create thousands of jobs.
However, many corporate regulations and lawsuits are not limited to individual states. It’s possible for business disputes involving companies located in different states to continue, regardless of Texas’ reforms. One such example is that of a class action lawsuit between Whole Foods, based in Austin, and the state of California. Whole Foods was accused of mislabeling some of its foods as containing all natural ingredients, although the ingredient in question, evaporated cane juice, is merely sugar. The lawsuit not only harmed Whole Foods, but also consumers. In cases such as this, sound legal representation is crucial in order to preserve the jobs of company owners, managers, employees and the companies themselves.
Source: mySA, “Tort reform nurtures Texas economy,” Hazel Meaux, July 20, 2014