Letter - Missouri badly in need of tort reform

To the editor:

Tort reform in Missouri has been delayed again with the veto of Senate Bill 280. Missouri continues to fall behind economically as other states move forward with plans to improve the business environments. Unless and until we address the issue of tort reform, Missouri will continue to struggle with job creation, health care costs and tax revenue collections.

Consider the state of Mississippi. Mississippi joins Missouri as a state with a regional court system recognized by a national group as a "judicial hellhole." In Missouri, that is St. Louis City Circuit Court. In Mississippi, it is Jefferson County Circuit Court. Both had legal reputations as places where lawyers can win multi-million dollar verdicts with ease against corporations. Missouri will retain that reputation, while Mississippi is changing.

Effective January 1, 2003, Mississippi laws were changed to cap non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. Additional changes being discussed include tightening the damage caps even more and complete venue reform. But do these changes, which the Missouri General Assembly passed and Governor Holden vetoed, really make a difference?

Consider these facts: At the current filing rate, just 133 civil cases will be filed in Jefferson County, Mississippi Circuit Court in 2003, compared with 391 filed in 2002. This is a reduction of nearly 66 percent.

At the current filing rate, just 144 mass tort cases will be filed in Mississippi in 2003, compared with 969 filed in 2002 and 343 filed in 2001.

While it's too early to declare these reductions as due entirely to tort reform, the reductions are so dramatic and the timing make it difficult to reach any other conclusion. Mississippi lawmakers are so impressed that many are pledging more civil justice reforms in the future.

Mississippi recognized the need for tort reform and responded while Missouri continues to fall further behind. Missouri must learn from the experiences of other states, like Mississippi, if we are to remain competitive in the national and global markets.

Missouri has another chance, in the 2004 session of the General Assembly, to correct systemic problems with our tort laws. We must make changes to our tort laws, to include damage caps as well as reform to venue and joint and several liability laws, if we are to keep pace.

We can make sure our justice system works for everyone, plaintiff and defendant alike, if the Executive Branch would sign legislation similar to Senate Bill 280 in the next year.

Gary Marble

President

Associated Industries of Missouri

Jefferson City