SACRAMENTO - Personal injury lawyers are asking legislators to give them a new tool to force higher settlements by using a private lawsuit to threaten to disclose companies' trade secrets and business plans.

The bill, (SB 1254-Schiff) is set to be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee August 18.

"The bill strips judges of their power to decide when pre-trial information can be granted confidentiality," said Barbara M. Wheeler, vice president-legislation of the Civil Justice Association of California. "By putting trade secrets and proprietary business plans at risk of disclosure as soon as a case is filed, the bill would increase litigation costs and in many cases help lawyers leverage higher settlements even when a firm is clearly not liable."

She noted that a recent state Supreme Court decision affirming the public's access to court proceedings and court documents nevertheless pointed out, however, that "the First Amendment does not compel public access to discovery materials that are neither used at trial nor submitted as a basis for adjudication." (NBC Subsidiary v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County)

People and their businesses do not lose their right of privacy just because a lawyer pays a couple of hundred dollars to file a suit against them, Wheeler said.

Since 1990, more than 40 states have rejected efforts to pass legislation similar to SB 1254. In states where bills have passed, they have generally addressed court documents and not pre-trial discovery material.

Although the trial lawyers argue their bill would make public information about safety, their testimony paints an opposing picture. Questioned before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the trial lawyers' witness said that in Florida where a related law has been in place for several years: "The truth is. . .defendants don't want to give you the documents, so they settle the case. The documents don't ever go into the public domain."