From the December 17, 2004 print edition of Memphis Business Journal

Tort reform needs more than legislation

After picking up four Senate seats in November and a commanding 55-45 majority, Republicans have an agenda in Washington that includes significant tort reform and malpractice reform.

Both have been major policy objectives of the Bush Administration but have been blocked until now by Senate Democrats.

One report says the cost of our tort system has skyrocketed to more than $300 billion -- the most expensive in the industrialized world -- while returning less than $.50 on the dollar and half of that for actual economic loss to claimants. Trial lawyers continue to argue that the problem is the underwriting practices of the insurance industry; they point to a decade-long pattern detailed by Weiss Ratings which found that medical malpractice premiums rose faster in states with caps on non-economic damages.

Still, some kind of tort reform at the federal level looks inevitable.

Tort reform in Tennessee is also likely. In the wake of Mississippi's reforms, Tennessee now looks like a laggard. Mississippi, of course, was shamed into tort reform when it became the venue of choice for class action suits and mass tort cases. The legislation included venue reform, limits on non-economic damage awards to $500,000 for the medical industry and $1 million for general businesses. It also capped punitive damages on a sliding scale based on the net worth of the defendant.

Republican state Sen. Mark Norris, chair of the Tennessee Senate Judiciary Committee and a local attorney, considers Tennessee a "pre-crisis state" when it comes to malpractice and tort reform and has been a sponsor of the bulk of the tort reform legislation proposed in the most recent session of the General Assembly.

While the political climate might be right for GOP proponents of tort reform on Capitol Hill and elsewhere, there are limits to what can be accomplished through legislation alone. The crying need for reform comes from a judicial system that's out of whack.

Judges with guts can usually keep juries in line. We also need to assure that we have judges who are competent, fair and willing to throw out ridiculous awards.

Meanwhile, we need a return of the citizen juror, including doctors, business people and other professionals who too often find a way to duck out. We've allowed our juries to be filled with people who don't have anything else to do all day, and we're paying for it elsewhere.

We honor those who put on the uniform of our military, our police and firefighters. We also need to restore the dignity that accompanies jury duty.