From 2010 to 2019, nine out of 10 personal injury verdicts in the United States over $10-million dollars (“nuclear verdicts”) were verdicts made in state courts.1 Louisiana is often ranked as one of the worst states for nuclear verdicts. Between 2010 and 2019, Louisiana hosted the 7th most nuclear verdicts in automobile cases despite ranking 25th in population.2 Between 2009 and 2023, Louisiana was home to nearly $10 billion in verdicts against corporations overall, ranking the sixth highest in total out of all the states.3
Many Louisiana state legislative sessions have started with trucking advocates pushing for common sense tort reforms only for their efforts resulting in, at best, a mixed-bag of piecemeal reforms. However, there may be some relief coming from Washington, D.C. regarding unfair nuclear verdicts in the form of the FAIR Trucking Act.
FAIR Trucking Act
Just before the U.S. House of Representatives went into recess, on September 10, 2025, U.S. House Representative Ashley Hinson (R-IA-2), along with cosponsors Tom Barrett (R-MI-7) and Brandon Gill (R-TX-26) introduced H.R.5268 titled the “Forum Accountability and Integrity in Roadway Trucking Act” or the “FAIR Trucking Act.” The act seeks to amend 28 U.S. §1332, and remove the need for complete diversity of citizenship in commercial motor vehicle accident lawsuits where the claim exceeds $5,000,000.4 If passed, it would give commercial vehicle defendants greater opportunities to avoid unfair nuclear verdicts.
28 U.S. §1332 is the federal statute which gives federal district courts jurisdiction to hear civil cases that they ordinarily would not be able to hear. Without 28 U.S. §1332 a case would need to involve a question of federal law for it to be heard in federal court. Under the current 28 U.S. §1332, a civil case involving state laws can be heard by federal courts if the amount of the claims exceeds $75,000 and there is “complete diversity” of citizenship between the parties. Complete diversity, in its most basic form, means that no defendant is from the same state as any plaintiff.
What the FAIR Trucking Act would do is relax the requirement for complete diversity and make the case easier to remove. What will sometimes happen in cases is a plaintiff will intentionally name in their lawsuit a non-diverse defendant, whom they otherwise wouldn’t name, just to destroy complete diversity and just to keep the case out of federal court. The FAIR Trucking Act would help put a stop to that practice.
What’s Next
As of October 30, 2025, the bill has been referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. With the House in recess since September 19th, and there being no end in sight, it remains to be seen if the FAIR Trucking Act has any chance of passing anytime soon. Regardless, we hope that Rep. Hinson, Barrett, and Gill continue to support and push this bill to get it passed to try and give some relief to commercial vehicle defendants.
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[1] Cary Silverman and Christpher E. Appel, Nuclear Verdicts: Trends, Causes, and Solutions, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform, September 2022, at 12.
[2] Cary Silverman, Louisiana’s Liability Environment: Progress and Opportunities for Reform, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform, April 2025, at 3.
[3] Id.
[4] Text: H.R.5268, FAIR Trucking Act