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Bernard Madoff, convicted of running an $65 billion Ponzi scheme, was sentenced to 150 years in jail. What’s your take on his punishment?

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By Knight Kiplinger

The Kiplinger Washington Editors

July 2, 2009

By year-end or so, Congress will give the nod to a major rewriting of the nation's financial regulatory system. This week’s Kiplinger Letter explores whether the package will do more harm than good and what lawmakers are likely to include.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: The Economy, Business Costs, Taxes, Supreme Court, Energy, Workplace Regulations, Climate Change, Health Care Legislation and Foreign Policy

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I just attended a franchise seminar. The speaker represents a few hundred franchises that (he says) are hand picked. He has the prospect (aka victim?) answer some questions about themselves then he makes recomendations - based on your personality, capital situation, etc.. If you pick a franchise, then he does some due dilligence for you. If you both decide it's a good idea, he helps you get started. He says he offers this service free of charge, which means he gets a commission if he's able to sell you a franchise. Has anyone done this? Successfully? Unsuccessfully?

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What's the Liability Climate in Your State?

Which state has the fairest litigation environment? Which has the most unfair juries? Get a fix on the judicial climate for business, state by state.

Worth Reading: The Quick Take from Kiplinger

May 2007

Institute for Legal Reform

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) is a national campaign led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It was founded in 1998 to address the country's "litigation explosion."

Litigation is an ever-increasing cost of doing business, so when a company is thinking of starting up, expanding or relocating, it only makes sense that it give some consideration to a state's judicial climate. What are state rules like on noneconomic damages and class-action lawsuits? How fair are its judges? Is corruption a problem?

In fact, 57 percent of surveyed businesses said it was very likely or somewhat likely that "the litigation environment in a state could affect an important business decision ... such as where to locate or do business," according to "Lawsuit Climate 2007: Rating the States," an annual survey by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) and Harris Interactive. Delaware was ranked as the state with the most favorable overall litigation environment, with Minnesota and Nebraska holding down the No. 2 and 3 spots. West Virginia was ranked the worst, with Mississippi second from the bottom and Louisiana third.

The study acknowledges that perception of the judicial environment in a given state could be skewed for a variety of reasons. But the ILR argues that "perception does become linked with reality. If the states can change the way litigators and others perceive their liability systems, we may find considerable movement in their rankings in the future." What could lawmakers do to most change the legal environment in a state? Twelve percent cited reform of punitive damages, 9% said timeliness of decisions and 8% said reform issues in general.

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