And, as always, nuance is important. There are different schedules of costs that are ordered depending on a variety of factors – merit, complexity, etc. – and they’re left to the discretion of the judge as an extra tool to encourage good behaviour and discourage bad. Waste 10% of a trial with nonsense? Pay the other side’s legal costs for that 10%. Were you a jackass? No costs for you. Cause a delay? Front the other side’s bills for anything caused by the delay. It’s easy and effective. Even people who are suspicious of leaving too much power to judicial discretion don’t seem to care much about it from anything more than a theoretical standpoint.

I’m sure trial lawyers’ groups have these fits and give off hypos of e.g. some poor working stiff suing RJ Reynolds, losing on a technicality, and being ordered to cover the fees of seven partners at Cravath. It doesn’t work that way.

Perry seems determined to make Texas the economic giant among states in the 21st century. The Texas Trial Lawyer Industry is having an apoplectic fit as we speak.