As of yesterday, it has become public that Tampa Area businessman, Tom Gaitens, will be the new Executive Director of Florida Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse. The FL CALA is a group that has successfully raised awareness of the need for lawsuit reform. In fact, the CALA was successful in getting some reforms passed under Governor Ron DeSantis (R) in 2019.
However, this may not be enough for the organization in their far from over battle to alter the court system.
The CALA anticipates that with their new pick in Gaitens, "medicine, bad faith provisions, premises liability, workers compensation, and legal advertising," will all be tackled very soon.
Gaitens, a longtime activist and well versed in business practices, stated in a press release that while "Florida's economy is on the upswing after a very tough year, but we have to get frivolous lawsuits under control."
Although he may be new to the job, Gaitens has already emphasized some important progress that is currently being made in the Florida legislature:
"The legislature is currently working on a bill to give our small businesses, public safety personnel, and medical personnel the protections that they need from frivolous lawsuits associated with COVID-19,” said Gaitens. “We need to pass that legislation and then keep the conversation going for more reforms."
From his record as State Director of Freedomworks.org and being a frequent guest on the Neil Cavuto Show, on Fox News, Florida can expect to see major changes to the court systems in the coming years.
In speaking to The Floridian on the matter, Gaitens said that his main goal was “basically going to build up the citizen base grassroots and create an informed electorate.”
“It's one of those issues that got neglected in the last legislative session and this is just the first step,” said Gaitens. “A first step in improving the conditions for small, but we are there's still a long road ahead right, and so I think my major goal is to start building up a better consciousness amongst the electorate regarding the problems we face and actually the impact that frivolous lawsuits have on everyday life. “
Gaitens added that the work playing field needed to be leveled because the current work environment favors the trial bar.
