More progress on tort reform

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South Carolina's tort system is outdated in this lawsuit-happy country where businesses can be punished in a system that effectively encourages people to sue over grievances that are minor or imagined. Companies increasingly are looking to locate in states that remove the jackpot aspect of a lawsuit. With other states moving to reform their tort system so companies and doctors aren't driven out of business, South Carolina risked becoming isolated if the Legislature didn't pass major legislation that made this state less friendly to lawsuits.

Gov. Mark Sanford, the state Chamber of Commerce and other pro-business groups put the squeeze play on the state Senate after it adjourned at the end of the first week of March with lawsuit reform facing death-by-filibuster. The pressure worked, and the Senate finally passed a tort reform bill that will reduce many of the damaging excesses found in the current system.

The House passed a tort reform bill last month that ended jury shopping by requiring a case to be tried where the defendant lives or the action occurred; increased the sanctions against frivolous lawsuits; reduced 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; and abolished 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.

It was on the last point of joint and several liability that the Senate hit the wall. Reform in this area is critical to taking the bull's-eye off the back of large companies that often are dragged into lawsuits because they have deeper pockets than many defendants.

The Senate ultimately didn't abolish joint and several liability — and that would have been the preferred action. But it did almost the next best thing, which was declare that defendants who are less than 50 percent responsible won't have to pick up the entire tab for a lawsuit. This cap on liability ends the fundamental unfairness of expecting someone with 10 percent of the liability to foot 100 percent of the damages' bill if the other parties are broke or bankrupt by the time a case is tried.

The Senate passed its version of medical malpractice last month. The House agreed with most of it, including the $350,000 per defendant cap on noneconomic damages or a total $1.05 million cap for each plaintiff on pain and suffering awards. The House made a few improvements on the Senate bill, including forcing mediation earlier.

It's important that the House and Senate quickly work out their minor differences and send these bills to Gov. Mark Sanford for his approval. South Carolinians will benefit from an improved tort system that protects the rights of injured people without punishing companies and doctors who have been penalized under the unfair system now in place.