Consumers foot the bill for jackpot justice lawsuits. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to stop that.
Read full article in The Washington Post
By: Greg Hodgen
Last month, FedEx filed a lawsuit against a New York personal injury law firm, alleging that it orchestrated crashes with FedEx vehicles and initiated a wave of fraudulent liability claims. The suit, which exposed how liability laws can be exploited, may have been eye-opening for the public. But for the trucking industry, it was no shock. In New York and across the country, lax liability laws pave the way for fraud. Lawsuit abuse has become deliberate and organized, and in the end, consumers foot the bill.
The case alleges that the attorney, who is based in Brooklyn, choreographed a sprawling liability claim scheme, involving staged accidents with FedEx trucks, phony injuries and coordinated medical referrals — all designed to collect payouts from the delivery company. The lawsuit even alleges that participants received unnecessary epidural injections and surgeries from health care providers to increase claims.
FedEx’s suit portrays a large, coordinated network — including lawyers, doctors and passengers — exploiting legal loopholes and weak oversight to turn fake crashes into real money. These kinds of abuses become possible when minor accidents can metastasize into six- or seven-figure jackpot justice lawsuits.
For fraudsters, the trucking industry is an easy target: Their vehicles are everywhere and carry mandatory insurance minimums that enable quick payouts. But the costs of suits are passed on to consumers. The trucking industry moves nearly everything Americans buy. Every fraudulent claim gets baked into higher insurance premiums, higher shipping costs and higher prices at the checkout counter. According to the Chamber of Commerce, every year lawsuit abuse costs the U.S. economy $529 billion, or $4,207 per household.
That’s why New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is right to take this problem seriously. The day after FedEx filed its suit, she directed the New York State Police and the Department of Financial Services to partner on specialized anti-fraud training. With more than 51,000 suspected cases of insurance fraud reported to the state’s Department of Financial Services in 2025 alone, the governor is giving law enforcement across the state the tools they need to better detect and investigate these crimes.
Hochul also deserves credit for her push earlier this year to crack down on staged crashes by revising liability laws to better align with medical standards. With these initiatives, the governor intends to bring down the cost of auto insurance in New York, which is about $1,500 higher than the national average.
But lawsuit abuse is not only a New York problem. In Louisiana last year, federal prosecutors uncovered a staged-accident scheme so brazen it became known as “Operation Sideswipe.” The scheme involved dozens of crashes, and as is alleged in the Brooklyn case, attorneys, passengers and doctors were all in on the plan to maximize profits. A witness who had agreed to cooperate with the investigation was murdered before trial.
Florida, once a hotbed for staged crashes and legal abuse, passed a law in 2023 to rein in excessive litigation and fraudulent claims. Early data shows the state’s insurance market stabilizing and premiums coming down. Georgia passed its own legislation last year, recognizing that unchecked lawsuit abuse threatens businesses and consumers alike.
Republicans and Democrats should be able to agree: Criminals cannot be allowed to game the system at everyone else’s expense. Hochul’s efforts to revise New York’s liability laws can help.
If legislators do not act, costs will continue to rise for drivers, businesses and every family trying to make ends meet in an already challenging economy. Americans shouldn’t have to pay for someone else’s scam.
Greg Hodgen is CEO of Groendyke Transport and chairman of the American Trucking Associations.