The Mississippi State Legislature enacted compromise legislation facilitating compromise tort reform, a move hailed by the American Insurance Association (AIA).
“Legislators clearly understood that a healthy business environment and competitive insurance marketplace in Mississippi depend on a balanced and fair civil justice system; unfortunately, the state in recent years has developed the reputation of being a ‘judicial hellhole,'” said Cecil Pearce, AIA vice president, southeast region. “We commend the Legislature for staying in session through most of the fall until they could agree to a tort reform package that can start to turn that reputation around – benefiting consumers and businesses alike. While this legislation does not include everything that we wanted, such as limits on non-economic damages, it’s a good start,” Pearce concluded.
Components of the legislation include a four percent cap on punitive damages for the net worth of businesses valued below $50 million; for larger companies, damages are capped at $20 million. In addition, lawsuits must be filed in the county where the company’s alleged wrongdoing occurred or the county where the plaintiff lives.
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove is expected to sign the bill, which will become effective Jan. 1, 2003. Gov. Musgrove called the Legislature into special session beginning Sept. 5, with the charge to address medical liability reform and then general business liability reform. The medical liability reform measure was signed by the Governor on Oct. 8.
Topics Legislation Mississippi
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