Thursday, September 12, 1996

Fraser, Perry tout Lawsuit Reform backing By RICHARD HORN
Senior Staff Writer

Texans for Lawsuit Reform, known for heavily funding candidates who back its agenda, has endorsed Troy Fraser for the Texas Senate.

Fraser, joined by Agriculture Commissioner Rick Perry at a brief West Texas Fair appearance Wednesday, vowed to fight for several additional civil justice reform measures in the upcoming legislative session.

"Last session, Texas began to return common sense to our out-of-control legal system, but more has to be done," Fraser said. "Lawyers continue to encourage citizens to play the legal lottery by promising huge rewards for no investment."

Perry, who served with Fraser in the Texas House in the late '80s and early '90s, said his colleague quickly took an active role in the overhaul of Texas' workers compensation system.

"Now he wants to be the man who's up there passing legislation to keep frivolous lawsuits from strangling small businesses," Perry said. "That's the kind of fight I like in a person. I've never had to wonder where he was."

Fraser, who owns a Big Spring-based wooden pallet manufacturing company, faces Sweetwater Democrat Rick Rhodes, a businessman and former mayor, in the race to succeed 24th District Sen. Bill Sims.

Rhodes, who filled out a questionnaire for Texans for Lawsuit Reform, was not critical of either the Houston-based political action committee or its agenda, with which he said he agrees.

"I'm mainly going to be tuned into what's good for small-business owners, and I think most of their agenda is good for small business," Rhodes said.

"There are a lot of lobby groups out there and a bunch of them are sitting on the sidelines," he added. "The only endorsement that means something is the one from voters, and that's what I go to."

Rhodes added he does not intend to accept any money from the state's trial lawyer lobby, on the opposite side of Texans For Lawsuit Reform's agenda.

Fraser outlined several civil justice reform measures he would support in Austin:

- Expanding judges' power to dismiss "meritless" lawsuits before trial and requiring filers of "frivolous" suits to pay court costs.

- Closing a loophole he says allows lawyers to "sue the laundry list" looking for the defendant with the deepest pockets.

- Stopping importation of out-of-state lawsuits into Texas courts. A loophole in current law, Fraser said, allows asbestos and railroad suits to be filed in Texas even though an accident took place in another state.

- Limiting liability for criminal acts committed on a person's land to only those where the landowner knew of a serious risk and refused to take reasonable action to protect others.