NEW STANDARD FOR PUNITIVE DAMAGES IS A GOOD FIRST STEP

The Missouri Supreme Court has raised the bar for plaintiffs who seek punitive damages -- special awards seeking to deter injurious conduct, exacted over and above the award of damages that makes the injured party whole. Punitive damages are meant to punish actions knowingly taken with bad intent that result in injury.

In a ruling last week, the high court raised the evidence bar for such awards. Juries impose them on top of actual damages, which compensate people for injuries and losses. It is a salutary ruling that will help to restore balance to a civil justice system that can use more of it.

The high court's bit of tort reform brings Missouri in line with 30 other states that have raised this burden of proof. Before last week's ruling, lawyers seeking punitive damages needed to provide a "preponderance" of the evidence. The new ruling establishes the higher standard of "clear and convincing evidence."

The proof that this is a sound ruling is that even the state's organization of personal-injury lawyers isn't complaining very much.

In the Missouri case, a girl was left paralyzed from the neck down by a 1990 rollover of a Suzuki Samurai in Warren County. A St. Louis Circuit Court jury awarded her $30 million for her actual damages and $60 million in punitive damages. The trial judge reduced both to $20 million each, and both sides appealed. The high court ruled: "Because punitive damages are extraordinary and harsh, this Court concludes that a higher standard of proof is required." Good for them.