The trial lawyers’ lobby, renowned for its deep pockets and significant influence, is gearing up for a potential showdown with Governor Kathy Hochul over her initiative to curb excessive litigation, according to a recent report.
This powerful special-interest group boasts notable members, including a lawyer who was once a college roommate and remains a close associate of State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx), as well as the son of a state senator from Queens.
“Governor Kathy Hochul is actively working to combat fraud and reduce the number of excessive lawsuits in an effort to make auto insurance more affordable for New York drivers. This report sheds light on the pro-litigation forces striving to maintain the costly status quo,” stated Tom Stebbins, the executive director of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York, which conducted the study.
In the previous year, trial lawyers poured over $1 million into political campaign contributions and spent $1.579 million on lobbying efforts.
The New York State Trial Lawyers Association’s lobbying efforts include the expertise of Patrick Jenkins, a close friend of Heastie. His firm, Patrick Jenkins & Associates, was compensated $528,000 by the trial lawyers group last year.
Additionally, Ken Ridett of Ridett Associates, who previously served as counsel to Senate Republicans, earned $526,000 from the same organization.
Another lawyer advocacy group, the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers, paid Parkside group lobbyist Evan Stavisky — the son of Queens Democratic state Sen. Toby Stavisky — $139,500 last year.
The larger of the two lobbying groups, NYSTLA PAC, generally contributed $168,600 to Assembly campaign committee accounts and $189,600 to Senate campaign committee accounts
It also specifically doled out $50,000 to PACs overseen by the leaders of the legislature: $25,000 to Heastie and $25,000 to Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
“Trial lawyers remain influential in the Legislature through their targeted approach to key lawmakers and lobbying expenses,” the report said.
“Notably, trial lawyers contributed heavily to Governor Kathy Hochul in her 2022 election campaign but have since dropped off.”
Part of Hochul’s auto-insurance reform plan includes putting a cap on damages involving potential pain and suffering for drivers at fault or engaging in criminal behavior at the time of an incident.
Her proposal would similarly target uninsured motorists who have violated state financial responsibility laws, individuals convicted of driving while impaired and those committing a felony or fleeing the scene.
Additionally, she is proposing legislation to ensure prosecutors can seek criminal penalties against any individual responsible for organizing a staged accident, not just the person behind the wheel.
Hochul included her car-insurance savings plan in her executive budget.
But the Democratic-led Assembly and Senate did not include it in their recently released fiscal plan.
Trial lawyers claimed Hochul’s plan limits the rights of injured residents to sue and lets insurance firms off the hook.
New York Trial Lawyers Association President Andrew Finkelstein disputed that insurance companies will lower premiums if “crash victims get less care.”
“History shows the opposite. Insurers cut costs, pocket the savings, and premiums never go down,” Finkelstein said after Hochul introduced the plan, calling it “Nothing more than a Victim Tax.”
But Hochul has said her plan, similar to a Florida law, could slash insurance premiums for New York drivers by 15% to 20%.
New Yorkers pay an average of $4,000 per year for car insurance — a whopping $1,500 more than the national average.
Hochul has powerful interests supporting her plan as well.
A group bankrolled in part by Uber and Citizens for Affordable Rates, or CAR, has spent $8 million this year — $6 million on digital ads and $2 million on digital ads — touting her plan, Board of Elections records show, according to StreetsBlog NYC.
Insurance firms or their reps also have contributed more than $14,000 to Hochul’s campaign and the state Democratic committee in the past few year, including: Sy Sternberg, former chairman and CEO of New York Life Insurance Company; Travelers; Allstate; Zurich; Chubb; Cigna; New York Insurance Association Inc. PAC; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, or MetLife; American Property Casualty Insurance Association, or APCIA, and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.
Insurers backing Hochul’s reforms also have lobbyists in Albany.
