Florida has been a regular in the American Tort Reform Foundation’s annual Judicial Hellholes report for decades, but the latest ATRF report removed Florida from the dishonorable designation, citing recent legal reforms signed into law.

“The 2023 legislative session brought a great sea change for the state’s civil justice system,” the report released this week states. “Florida lawmakers passed legal reform bills that have the potential to rebalance the state’s legal system for many years to come.”

In fact, the report now designates Florida a “Point of Light” due largely to the passage of three tort-reform measures. House Bill 837, introduced by Reps. Tommy Gregory (R-Lakewood Ranch) and Tom Fabricio (R-Miami Ranch), helps to ensure jurors have an accurate idea of plaintiffs’ medical expenses, eliminates contingency-fee multipliers in attorney-fee calculations, ends the state’s one-way attorney fee provisions in insurance claims and reduces the statute of limitations in negligence cases.