The ABCs of tort reform

Most people have heard of tort reform, a movement to reshape the way consumers can access the courts by restricting their right to sue and limiting the awards they could receive. But not that many people, including some with strong opinions, actually know what it's all about.

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In law, a tort is an injury committed willfully or negligently by a person or company. Proposed changes under the general umbrella of tort reform include caps on damages that injured parties can receive, limits on the fees lawyers receive in contingency cases, shielding of certain products or classes of products from liability suits, and a statute of limitations on liability for manufacturers of certain products.

While tort reform has had varying successes in the various states, proponents are working at the federal level to pass some very specific laws dealing with class action lawsuits, medical malpractice and asbestos-related claims, among others. A sweeping overhaul of the class-action lawsuit process was passed by Congress and signed by President Bush in February.

"Tort reform is a generic term that describes a wide variety of legislative possibilities," says M. Diane Vogt, a lawyer who has practiced tort law in Tampa, Fla., for the past 25 years. "Most of the states have instituted some type of tort reform during the past 10 years. Tort reform is intended to curb abuses of the legal system and prevent the 'lotto mentality' that many litigants have about lawsuits in our country, and particularly contingency-fee lawsuits."

Pros and cons
Opinions on tort reform are bitterly divided. Consumer-rights groups see the process as a wholesale movement to shield companies from liability and restrict consumers' access to the courts. Proponents view the effort as a way to contain out-of-control legal costs and allow companies more freedom to research and market helpful products, lower insurance costs and create more jobs.

"We consider the term tort reform a misnomer," says Joanne Doroshow, president of the Center for Justice and Democracy, a consumer rights group. "The basic concept behind it is to take away consumer rights so that people who have been injured or killed as a result of a company's or individual's action no longer have the ability to go to court, get compensation and hold the company or person responsible."

Gretchen Schaefer, director of communications for the American Tort Reform Association, disagrees. "Tort reform will mitigate the costs that many Americans bear in areas such as health care," she says. "Many people can't even get health care in their hometowns as a result of litigation that has forced doctors to close up shop."

The issues
Tort reform is a somewhat confusing hodgepodge of legal issues. Reforms range from legislation that directly affects certain areas of tort law, such as medical malpractice, to changes in various rules, defenses and limits commonly employed in many of these cases that can impact how much an individual or group receives in damages, in a court case.

"Tort reform as an issue doesn't affect the majority of people in this country or even the majority of people who file a lawsuit," says Vogt. "Tort reform applies to large catastrophic injury cases and only to certain types of damages."

Doroshow agrees that only a tiny minority of tort cases will be affected by these laws, but notes that the people affected "really need the compensation and/or have been done an egregious wrong.

"What gets lost in this discussion is how everyone benefits from cases brought by people who are injured," says Doroshow. "These suits and actions produce safer products and drugs. If the right to sue is so restricted that it is much less likely that people will go to court, businesses have much less incentive to provide safe products."