HB 273 -- Tort Reform

Co-Sponsors:  Byrd, Hanaway, Jetton, Crowell, Portwood,
Dusenberg, Hunter, Cunningham (86), Schaaf, Holand, Cooper (155),
Shoemaker (8), Black, Bean, Icet, Engler, Dixon, Kingery,
Schlottach, Lembke (85), Purgason, Avery, Townley, Myers, Pearce,
Stefanick, Johnson (47), Baker, Guest, Bearden, Page, Yates,
Wood, Smith (14), Wasson, Hubbard

This bill makes various changes to laws affecting claims for
damages for personal injuries.  In its main provisions, the bill:

(1)  Clarifies that the maximum liability of the state Legal
Expense Fund to any one claimant will be $500,000 (Section
105.711, RSMo);

(2)  Repeals and reenacts a section ruled unconstitutional which
provides for liens for health practitioners who provide medical
services to patients injured by tort-feasors (Section 430.225);

(3)  Requires that venue in all tort actions only be in the
county in which the cause of action accrued.  If the cause of
action did not accrue in Missouri, venue will be determined as if
it were not a tort action (Section 508.010);

(4)  Allows civil defendants to change venue to an appropriate
venue if a new defendant is added which would have made the
current venue inappropriate had the later-added defendant been
named initially (eliminating the procedural maneuvering often
referred to as the "St. Louis Two-Step" to establish venue in the
City of St. Louis) (Section 508.120);

(5)  Requires clear and convincing evidence that a defendant's
actions were willful, wanton, or malicious in order to award
punitive damages and allows discovery as to a defendant's assets
only after a finding by the court that the plaintiff has a
submissible case on punitive damages (Section 510.263);

(6)  Provides that an order certifying a class in a class action
lawsuit is a final, appealable judgment (Section 512.023);

(7)  Provides that in appellate cases involving monetary
judgments in excess of $3 million, a $3 million supersedeas bond
will be sufficient to stay execution, with the remainder of the
judgment being an immediate but nonexecutable lien upon the
appellant's assets (Section 512.080);

(8)  Defines "costs" to mean the total of fees, miscellaneous
charges, and surcharges (defined in Section 488.010), as well as
reasonable charges and fees of endorsed expert witnesses and
court reporters and reasonable expenses for travel, record
retrieval, photocopying, long distance telephone calls, exhibit
preparation, and videotaped depositions (Section 514.035);

(9)  Requires mediation in all tort actions in which claimed
damages exceed $25,000, unless the court finds that mediation
would have no chance of success.  Awards costs to the prevailing
party, defined as the plaintiff if the plaintiff's net recovery
exceeds his or her last position at mediation and defined as the
defendant if the plaintiff's net recovery is less than the
defendant's last position at mediation.  If plaintiff's net
recovery is between the parties' last positions at mediation,
neither party prevails nor pays the costs of the other party
(Section 514.060);

(10)  Reduces the statute of limitations for claims by minors
less than 18 years of age against physicians, hospitals,
dentists, etc., from the minor's twentieth birthday to two years
from the date of occurrence of the alleged negligence (Section
516.105);

(11)  Limits to five years the extension of time to file a cause
of action once the disabilities of minority or mental incapacity
are removed (Section 516.170);

(12)  Eliminates defendants' joint and several liability in tort
actions unless a principal-agent relationship exists between the
defendants (Section 537.067);

(13)  Requires an affidavit from a similarly-licensed
professional supporting a cause of action for non-medical claims
of professional negligence (Section 537.530);

(14)  Limits attorneys contingency fees in tort actions to 33% of
the first $500,000, 28% of the next $500,000, and 15% of all
damages recovered in excess of $1 million (Section 537.767);

(15)  Limits attorneys fees in class action lawsuits to 10% of
the value of the judgment or settlement "actually collected" by
the members of the class (Section 537.768);

(16)  Prohibits the Attorney General or any state agency from
entering into any contingency fee agreement or any agreement
providing any incentive bonus with any attorney regarding any
claim relating in any manner to a tort action (Section 537.770);

(17)  Adds long-term care facilities licensed pursuant to Chapter
198 (Convalescent, Nursing and Boarding Homes) to the definition
of "health care provider" as used in Chapter 538 (Tort Actions
Based on Improper Health Care) (Section 538.205);

(18)  Specifies that all individuals or entities whose liability
is based solely upon an act or omission of an agent, servant, or
employee will be considered the same defendant as the agent,
servant, or employee and specifies that all individuals and
entities asserting a wrongful death claim will be considered one
plaintiff.  The bill also eliminates the requirement that the
award limitations for noneconomic damages be adjusted annually
for inflation and removes the "per occurrence" language in order
to overrule a recent Missouri Supreme Court decision (Section
538.210).  There is an emergency clause for this section;

(19)  Limits civil damages recoverable against certain
physicians, dentists, hospitals, etc. to $150,000 for care or
assistance necessitated by traumatic injury and rendered in a
designated trauma center (Section 538.213);

(20)  Requires that the health care provider affidavit required
in medical professional negligence cases include the name and
address of the affiant, requires that the opinion upon which the
affidavit is based be rendered by a physician who has the same
board certification as the defendant, and allows an extension of
time not to exceed an additional 90 days for filing the affidavit
(Section 538.225);

(21)  Prohibits statements, writings, or benevolent gestures
expressing sympathy from being admissible as evidence of an
admission of liability in a civil action (Section 538.226); and

(22)  Prohibits certain records, written proceedings, or
documents produced by or through the activities of any state or
federal agency from being admissible in certain civil, criminal,
and administrative proceedings against facilities licensed
pursuant to Chapter 198 (Convalescent, Nursing and Boarding
Homes) (Section 538.301).

There is an emergency clause for Section 538.210, which clarifies
the definition of "defendant" in actions against health care
providers and tightens the limitation on noneconomic damage
awards.

Missouri House of Representatives
Last Updated July 25, 2003 at 10:11 am