Suing for Damages? Bring Your Lobbyist

On March 3, 1998, 18-year-old Eric Brody was driving home from his job at a sports store in Sunrise, Fla., when a sheriff’s deputy smashed into his AMC Concord. The officer, late for work, was going as fast as 70 mph, according to court records. Brody skidded into a wall, ended up in a coma, and awoke six months later, a paraplegic. He sued the Broward County Sheriff’s Office for negligence, and a jury awarded him $30.9 million in damages in 2005. There was one hitch: Florida has a sovereign immunity law prohibiting plaintiffs who sue the state, its municipalities, and other public entities from collecting more than $200,000 in damages.

More than 30 states have similar laws protecting states from having to spend taxpayer funds on large jury awards. Florida is one of only three where plaintiffs can circumvent the statute, and a mini-industry has sprung up of lobbyists who have experience either helping plaintiffs bypass the cap or fighting those efforts. After a jury award, a lobbyist presses a state legislator to introduce a so-called claim bill that would override the $200,000 limit. The bill asks for a specific award from the public entity and attorneys’ fees, which by law can run to 25 percent of the award. From 2007 to 2011, Florida passed 38 claim bills into law, paying out $82.5 million, 59 percent more than in the previous five years.