After Mississippi's legislature adjourned without passing tort-reform legislation, Gov. Haley Barbour called a special session which resulted in an early June approval of HB 13.
The action should bring stability and predictability back to the state's civil justice system, according to the American Insurance Association. "Achieving comprehensive civil justice reform has been a multi-year process: the legislation that passed in 2002 was a first step and HB 13 completes the process," said Cecil Pearce, AIA vice president, southeast region.
Along with changes to the law made in 2002 and new rules limiting joinder issued by the state supreme court in February, HB 13 completes venue and joinder reform by requiring that cases be tried where they arise and that each plaintiff in a lawsuit establish proper 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 elsewhere.
The legislation also will maintain the current medical malpractice cap at $500,000, and extend a cap on non-economic damages to other civil defendants. In addition, it lowers some of the punitive damage caps based on the net worth of defendants, which were imposed in the 2002 tort reform law; protects sellers of products as they came from reputable manufacturers; 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; and establishes juror service requirements.
The AIA is urging other states with "dysfunctional" civil justice systems to follow Mississippi's lead. "Mississippi's enactment of strong civil justice reform should be a wake-up call to other states where litigation excess has caused an exodus of companies and jobs," said Robert E. Vagley, AIA's president. "If Mississippi can take action, there is absolutely no reason that jurisdictions from California to Illinois to West Virginia shouldn't follow suit."
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