Setting legal limits

A top priority of Gov. Matt Blunt's first months in office will become reality Aug. 28 when Missouri's tort reform legislation, signed in ceremonies in Cape Girardeau and around the state last week, takes effect.

The legislation is intended to benefit businesses and doctors by limiting legal awards resulting from lawsuits.

While proponents of the legislation applauded new law, opponents said the revised law makes it harder for injured plaintiffs to get fair compensation for actual and punitive damages.

While there are arguments to be made for what is "fair" -- the new law caps punitive damages at $500,000 or five times the actual damages, whichever is greater -- there are two components of the law that have been sorely needed for a long time.

The first deals with what is called "venue shopping" by attorneys who file their lawsuits where they think juries are likely to be more sympathetic to their clients and approve larger awards. The new law requires lawsuits to be filed in the county where alleged wrongdoing occurs.

The other deals with the sharing of liability in cases were more than one defendant is found to be at fault. The new law does away with requiring whichever defendant has the deepest pockets to pay awards when other defendants have no ability to pay.

One expected result of the new law is less pressure on medical malpractice insurance premiums, thanks to the limits on awards. Blunt and other have cited increasing numbers of doctors who are giving up high-risk specialties or moving to other states to avoid the high cost of insurance.