Addressing shortcomings in South Carolina’s civil liability or tort law has been a topic of debate for decades, but 2025 may be the year significant changes come to fruition.
That’s at least the hope of the state’s business community as tort reform has become the top priority for state and local chambers of commerce, according to Russ Dubisky of the South Carolina Coalition for Lawsuit Reform.
Bigger than liquor
The issue has been dominated in the past couple of years by concerns over skyrocketing liquor liability insurance rates for the state’s food and beverage industry, but the issue is impacting virtually every segment of the business community.
This was the message Dubisky delivered to a January gathering of business leaders in Spartanburg focused on tort-reform efforts.
At the heart of the matter is a section of state law dealing with joint and several liability. Critics argue the existing law effectively incentivizes lawsuits to go after those defendants with the deepest pockets, regardless of how much or how little they may have contributed to the injury or damages that prompted the suit.
“These issues are not just affecting bars and restaurants,” Dubisky said. “There are no excuses for inaction.”
During the same briefing, OneSpartanburg President and CEO Allen Smith said economic-development efforts across the state are seeing a negative impact from the lack of action on tort reform.
But the issue is also much bigger than increased insurance costs for the state’s businesses, according to Matt Wills, vice president of government affairs for the Greenville Chamber of Commerce.
“I think when we look at this from the standpoint of inhibiting smaller businesses from continuing to do what they do, it’s much, much, much larger than just an insurance issue,” Wills said.
According to the state Chamber of Commerce’s 2025 Competitiveness Agenda, the average household in the state pays about $3,700 more for goods and services because of shortcomings in the tort system.
Dubisky called this effectively a “tort tax” and added it amounts to about 2.5% of the state’s annual GDP.
The Justice Act
Because the stakes are so high, organizations like state and local chambers of commerce and the Coalition for Lawsuit Reform have pinned their hopes on a bill under consideration in the state Senate.
The bill, S.244, is more commonly known as the South Carolina Justice Act and is being evaluated by a subcommittee of the senate’s judiciary committee.
The subcommittee heard more than three hours of testimony Feb. 6, part of which came from critics of the bill who expressed concerns the legislation would hurt victims’ opportunities to pursue just compensation for their injuries or damages.
But Dubisky and Wills said proponents of the bill are unified in their support of victims’ rights to be justly compensated.
“What we’re not trying to do is insulate bad actors,” Dubisky said.
Wills added the push for meaningful tort reform is a bipartisan issue aimed at restoring balance and fairness to the state’s civil liability laws.
“Is 244 perfect? No,” Wills said. “But I do think we’ve got a vehicle that’s a very good starting place.”
South Carolina tort costs by the numbers
- In 2022, tort costs added $3,734 annually to average household expenses
- This equates to about 2.54% of the state’s GDP
- Across the country in the same year, tort costs totaled more than $529 billion or about $4,200 per U.S. household
Source: Tort Costs in America, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform
