Frivolous lawsuits hurt our local hospitality economy

As someone who has spent my career building and operating restaurants along Florida’s Gulf Coast, I’ve worked alongside countless small business owners who pour everything into their companies. Time, savings, long hours and family sacrifice keep local businesses alive. In hospitality, we’re not just serving food. We’re creating jobs and gathering places that anchor our communities.

But today, small businesses face more pressure than ever.

Food costs swing weekly. Wages rise. Insurance premiums climb. Customers are cautious with discretionary spending. Margins are thin, and every dollar matters.

Yet one of the biggest sources of anxiety for restaurant owners isn’t inflation or labor. It’s the growing threat of frivolous lawsuits.

Florida took an important step forward with reforms, including the 51% comparative fault rule, which prevents plaintiffs who are mostly responsible for their injuries from recovering damages. The intent was right. But many questionable claims never reach a courtroom. Instead, some attorneys simply run up legal costs through delays and discovery, knowing insurers often settle to avoid the expense. Even when a restaurant does nothing wrong, it still pays. For small businesses, that’s a hidden litigation tax.

For large firms, it’s a numbers game. For small businesses, it’s survival. Defending yourself costs real money, even when you’ve done nothing wrong.

That money comes straight out of payroll, reinvestment and growth. One or two aggressive legal actions can erase an entire year’s profit. In this environment, that can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

Florida has made progress addressing lawsuit abuse, but the work must continue. We need stronger guardrails against deceptive legal advertising, more transparency around inflated claims and continued reforms that discourage lawsuits filed simply to pressure small businesses into settling.

Small businesses aren’t asking for special treatment. We’re asking for fairness and the chance to focus on serving our guests and growing responsibly, not constantly defending against meritless litigation.

When restaurants thrive, our teams thrive, and our communities thrive. Protecting small businesses protects all of us.

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JT Corrales is the director of Business Development for Crabby Bill’s Seafood Brands and a restaurant owner.