Good upgrade for civil justice

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As Sanford noted, our state has been judged to have the 11th-worst civil justice system in the nation. This unwanted distinction did more than hurt businesses that increasingly came to fear a lawsuit based on exaggerated or manufactured claims. It hurt state residents, too, who need good jobs, and it threatened to scare away investment opportunities from businesses that would be inclined to set up shop in a state that has already upgraded its civil justice system.

Sanford put much of his political capital behind this bill. He and this state's business community worked tenaciously to pass a tort reform bill that had muscle in it. Sanford's trip to Greenville to sign the bill made sense, too: Rep. Harry Cato sponsored the bill, and House Speaker David Wilkins kept the Senate-amended legislation from languishing in the House. Greenville banker Mack Whittle, chairman of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, helped spearhead the business effort to pass the bill. Wilkins said Monday that "there is no 'I' in team" and "if ever there was a team effort to get something passed, this was it."

The legislation makes several critically needed changes: (1) It prevents jury shopping by requiring a case to be tried where the defendant lives or the action occurred, (2) it increases the sanctions against frivolous lawsuits, (3) it reduces the statue of repose, the number of years one has to file a lawsuit against a homebuilder or construction company, from 13 to eight years, (4) it dramatically changes the concept of joint and several liability, where a plaintiff with deep pockets and only a small fraction of the liability could end up paying most of the damages and (5) it allows a defendant, through a legal device called the "empty chair," to introduce evidence that other parties not named in the lawsuit share some of the fault.

The business tort reform bill, along with the medical malpractice bill that is nearing final approval, still protects the right of people to seek compensation for injuries caused by negligent, careless or sloppy work. But it does so in a way that protects business from jury-shopping plaintiffs looking for some easy money.