Tort Liability Reform #70

To alleviate the tremendous economic pressure placed on businesses, medical providers, local governments and others, we continue to support the following tort reform measures:

• Perform calculations that reduce future damages to present value.
• Reform and reduce attorney contingency fee arrangements.
• A plaintiff (party pursuing suit) should be responsible to pay defendant legal fees if the case is settled in the defendant's favor. The court should be responsible for collecting fees from the plaintiff.
• Reform the collateral source rule to mandate revealing other sources of compensation for damages available to the plaintiff.
• Mandate structured settlements for large monetary judgments.
• Reform prejudgment interest rules by reducing the interest rate, which would start accruing the day the judgment is awarded.
• Arbitration boards should be used to settle cases.
• A person who uses a product in a way other than was intended should not be allowed to bring suit.
• Court ordered mediation shall not be scheduled before the defendant in civil litigation has the opportunity to file a motion for summary disposition. Court ordered mediation shall take place only if both parties agree to mediate. Any agreement reached in this mediation shall have a waiting or cooling off period of 48 to 72 hours to afford the defendant the opportunity to change his mind after weighing the consequences of this agreement or contract. 
• Employers who are providing proper training and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and are working in good faith to protect employee health, should have liability protection.