Support for Assembly Bill 19

WMC appreciates the opportunity to provide input on Assembly Bill 19, which would increase transparency and reduce fraud in personal injury trust suits.
WMC is the state’s largest business trade association, with over 3,500 members in the manufacturing, service, health care, retail, energy, banking and insurance sectors of our economy.  WMC is dedicated to making Wisconsin the most competitive state in the nation to do business, and toward that end, we support legislation encouraging a legal environment that provides fairness under the law and the application of reasonable and clear standards.  With those principles in mind, we respectfully request your support of Assembly Bill 19.
A number of personal injury trusts have been formed under federal bankruptcy law to provide appropriate compensation for injured people.  However, some claimants who have filed with these personal injury trusts also file a tort action against a solvent business for the same claim.  These plaintiffs and their attorneys are filing for multiple recoveries without any transparency.
Assembly Bill 19 would require, that when a trust may be responsible for compensating the injured, a plaintiff file a claim with a personal injury trust before pursuing the same claim at trial with a solvent business.
The bill requires a plaintiff to provide all parties to the suit documentation pertaining to a claim made against a personal injury trust.
If a solvent defendant is found liable for the plaintiff’s injury, the court is to take into consideration payments made by a personal injury trust to the plaintiff.
Assembly Bill 19 will prevent double dipping for the same claim from a solvent business after a plaintiff receives compensation from a personal injury trust.
Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of our support for Assembly Bill 19.