By Tiger Joyce and Curt Schroder (Pennsylvania Coalition for Civil Justice Reform)
Mayor Jim Kenney touted the importance of fostering a pro-business climate in Philadelphia during his Feb. 11 remarks to the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia. He stressed the need to flip the message: Philadelphia is open for business, he said.
While leadership from the top is always encouraging, it is difficult to see “open for business” as the current reality. As long as the Philadelphia court system is awarding $8 billion verdicts against companies, like a recent one demanding payout from Johnson & Johnson for a drug’s side effects, the main business you’ll see flocking to the city are entrepreneurial trial attorneys and litigation tourists looking to cash in on Philly’s reputation for high-dollar judgments.