Behrens: 2025 Civil Justice Update
In 2025, some states took strides to limit skyrocketing tort awards, while others enacted laws regulating third-party litigation funding, and others addressed so-called “over-naming” in asbestos cases. Shook Public Policy Practice Co-Chair Mark Behrens wrote an article reviewing the year in civil justice reforms for the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) Civil Justice Response Committee Newsletter.
In “2025 Civil Justice Update,” Behrens discusses developments on both federal and state levels. He also provides an update on the status of American Law Institute (ALI) Restatements of the Law and amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
One overarching trend Behrens notes is that the plaintiffs’ bar is pushing to increase wrongful death awards.
“Since 2023, a number of states have considered legislation to allow a broader range of people to sue for a wrongful death, expand recoverable damages for emotional harm, raise or eliminate damage caps, authorize punitive damages, or lengthen the statue of limitations for such claims,” he says. “In 2025, Louisiana extended the prescriptive period (statute of limitations) for wrongful death and survival actions, but other pro-plaintiff legislation stalled in two major states.”
Read the article in the IADC Committee Newsletter >>
In “2025 Civil Justice Update,” Behrens discusses developments on both federal and state levels. He also provides an update on the status of American Law Institute (ALI) Restatements of the Law and amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
One overarching trend Behrens notes is that the plaintiffs’ bar is pushing to increase wrongful death awards.
“Since 2023, a number of states have considered legislation to allow a broader range of people to sue for a wrongful death, expand recoverable damages for emotional harm, raise or eliminate damage caps, authorize punitive damages, or lengthen the statue of limitations for such claims,” he says. “In 2025, Louisiana extended the prescriptive period (statute of limitations) for wrongful death and survival actions, but other pro-plaintiff legislation stalled in two major states.”
Read the article in the IADC Committee Newsletter >>
