“The so-called FAIR Act would be anything but fair to New York’s business community, especially Main Street businesses,”

—Tom Stebbins, executive director of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of NY

“Lawmakers should be focused on cutting costs and supporting small businesses, not making it easier for wealthy lawyers who have demonstrated no actual harm to sue them out of existence.”

— Ashley Ranslow, New York state director for the National Federation of Independent Business

“Gov. Kathy Hochul and lawmakers need to reject the bill if they are truly serious about addressing affordability.”

— Chelsea Lemon, Business Council lobbyist

“It strips away long-standing legal safeguards and due process protections — like ensuring that claims are consumer-oriented or that plaintiffs actually have standing to sue — and replaces them with a system that invites abuse.”

— Tom Stebbins, executive director of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of NY

“The proposal functions like a private tax: it empowers lawyers to make flimsy accusations about ‘unfair’ business practices and extort monetary settlements – including fees for the attorneys’ time to draft the demand letter, of course – to avoid a lawsuit.”

— Ashley Ranslow, New York state director for the National Federation of Independent Business

“Time and time again we see well-intentioned legislative proposals have unintended consequences because of vague definitions, nebulous terms that lawyers will exploit for profit. This bill and others like it pile on the perverse incentives to not only empower predatory law firms to sue large companies – employers, that is – but to seek out small businesses who can't afford to fight a demand letter, never mind prolonged complex litigation. There's no way we can revitalize upstate with the industries of the future if we convince them to set up shop here with pro-innovation policies and then expose them to massive liabilities for daring to call the Empire State home.”

— Justin Wilcox, executive director, Upstate United