GREENVILLE — As Gov. Mark Sanford signed into law a sweeping revision of the state’s civil court system Monday, business leaders already were looking ahead to even more changes.

They want the Legislature to place more limits on how much money juries can award in damages, and they plan to scrutinize judges to make sure they are not too friendly to plaintiffs.

Their plans drew wary responses from both supporters and opponents of the change.

“It’s a very poor idea,” said Rep. James Smith, D-Richland, who voted for the new law after forcing some amendments.

Lawmakers and business leaders gathered at the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce for the bill signing.

They applauded the new law, which makes it harder to sue and get jury awards from businesses. They say it will help South Carolina become more competitive for jobs and help boost the economy.

But backers of further change said the court system still is too friendly to plaintiffs.

“Today, the scales of justice have begun a long-overdue and much-needed shift back toward the middle,” said Michael Fields, state director of the S.C. chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business.

“If we are to truly regain the confidence in our system, more changes are needed.”

That might mean getting involved in judicial elections, said S.C. Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Hunter Howard. Judges in South Carolina are elected by the Legislature.

“We’re not looking for judges that are totally our way,” Howard said, “but judges that are balanced in how they’re deciding cases.”

S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal said she welcomes scrutiny — as long as judges aren’t expected to take sides.

“The one thing everybody needs to understand is what the function of the court is,” she said. “Judges are not supposed to be friendly to anyone. Judges are supposed to be neutral.”

Others are concerned that business would try to interfere with judges’ decisions.

Smith said South Carolina does not have a problem with runaway juries or activist judges.

“The same people who elected Jim DeMint sit on our juries,” he said, referring to the conservative Republican U.S. senator elected in 2004.

House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville, said he wants to wait before making any more major changes to the courts.

“We need to give an opportunity for this legislation to work,” he said of the new law, which took several years to pass the Legislature.

The law signed Monday:

• Restricts where trials can be held

• Cuts the time in which a homeowner could sue for construction defects

• Limits a practice that allowed plaintiffs to sue one defendant for full damages in cases in which two or more people were at fault.

Backers included leaders from industries ranging from construction to trucking to small businesses. They poured millions of dollars into legislative campaigns in the last election.

Trial lawyers, who fought the bill, said it will hurt small businesses and people injured by businesses.

Michael Gunn, a lobbyist for the S.C. Trial Lawyers Association, said a provision gives big corporations an incentive to push the blame to smaller businesses.

“We’re extremely disappointed in the bill.”

Reach Talhelm at (803) 771-8339 or jtalhelm@thestate.com.