Few States Join Miss. Tort Reform Bandwagon

The system doesn't work, "it's driving businesses away, it's not getting money to people who deserve it, and there is tremendous frictional cost," Julie Rochman, spokesperson for AIA told National Underwriter. "The system is broken; we have to fix the system."

She recommended that states step back and take a look at the entire system in the state, rather than trying to take a piecemeal approach.

Ms. Rochman explained that some states begin with the intention of overhauling their system, but "as legislation moves forward it gets chipped away. You end up with just medical malpractice, or just a piece of environmental law."

States like Illinois, which has "a lot of tort-related issues on the venue right now," could benefit from this type of approach, as well as West Virginia, "where they have whittled away at things" such as third-party bad faith, she said. Ohio is looking at asbestos and silica, which she said is "great, but if the entire system is broken, then the entire system has to be fixed."

Cecil Pearce, AIA regional vice president, Southeast region, said the effective date for most reforms in Mississippi's HB 13 is Sept. 1. The effective date for jury service reforms is Jan. 1, 2007, he said.

Robert E. Vagley, AIA president, in a statement called Mississippi a "trailblazer in the national campaign to end lawsuit abuse and restore fairness and predictability to courts across the country."

Mr. Vagley said, "If Mississippi can take action, there is absolutely no reason that jurisdictions from California to Illinois to West Virginia shouldn't follow suit."

Litigation and judicial reforms that "stem the rising tide of lawsuit abuse is long overdue in many states," he noted. "Without such reform, employers will continue to see a large sign that reads ?business not welcome' on the state's front door."

HB 13 requires that cases be tried where they arise and that each plaintiff in a lawsuit establish proper venue, keeping plaintiffs' attorneys from joining their cases to claims in a favorable venue.

HB 13 also establishes the doctrine of forum non conveniens, which allows the court to dismiss an action or transfer it to another county if it would be more properly heard there, AIA said.

Additional litigation reforms in HB 13 include the following:

? Maintains the current medical malpractice cap at $500,000, and extends a cap on non-economic damages to other civil defendants. The cap applies to any civil claim filed on or after Sept. 1, 2004.

? Lowers some of the punitive damage caps based on the net worth of the defendant that were first imposed in the 2002 tort reform law.

? Protects "innocent sellers"?a seller who sells a product exactly as it came from a reputable manufacturer is not liable and cannot be included in a suit just to stop an out-of-state defendant from having the right to remove the case to federal court.

? Caps punitive damages based on a defendant's net worth.

? Abolishes civil liability for premises owners for death or injury to independent contractors or their employees if the contractor knew or reasonably should have known of the danger that caused the harm.

? Abolishes joint and several liability for all defendants and institutes pure allocation of fault.

? Establishes juror service requirements, making juries more representative by requiring more citizens to serve on juries and making the process less burdensome.