State puts lid on lawsuit awards

JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippi is capping punitive damages in product-liability cases and slapping other restrictions on lawsuits to try to erase the state's reputation as the place where plaintiffs' lawyers go to hit the jackpot.

The legislation emerged from an 83-day special legislative session devoted entirely to legal reform.

Business groups from Mississippi and around the country had pressed for the protections, warning that Mississippi's role as a magnet for negligence lawsuits and its reputation for eye-popping verdicts are costing jobs and scaring away employers.

In early October, Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove signed the first major piece of legislation to come out of the special session: a measure to limit jury awards against doctors, hospitals and nursing homes, which are facing rising medical malpractice premiums.

Then on Monday, the Legislature passed a tort reform bill dealing with punitive damages.

Civil justice reform

"It's fitting this legislation comes just before Thanksgiving Day. All along, I've said we needed civil justice reform that was fair and balanced, and I'm pleased legislation has been put together that meets these criteria," the governor said Tuesday.

Ron Aldridge, a lobbyist with the National Federation of Independent Business, said: "It's a great message for Mississippi to send to the world."

Trial lawyers were not happy with the bill.

"It's bad," said David Baria, president of the Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association. "Corporate America came to the Mississippi Legislature and said, 'Don't make us pay when we kill your people' and the Legislature bent to the pressure."

Mississippi has been the site of some multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements in cases involving the tobacco industry, asbestos, health maintenance organizations and drug companies.

In 1998, a jury awarded 12 plaintiffs $48.5 million in compensatory damages in a case against several asbestos manufacturers.