COLUMBIA, S.C. - The S.C. House of Representatives approved historic tort reform legislation today, taking a major step toward our goal of making our state the best place to do business in America.

“Tort reform is an important step toward making our legal system more business friendly, while preserving our citizens’ rights to sue if they’ve been wronged,” said Jim Harrison, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

This year, the House Republican Caucus is focused on strengthening our business community so it can create jobs. Tort reform was a major Caucus agenda item for 2010.

“This legislation and our economic development bill are keys to helping our state’s economic recovery,” said House Majority Leader Kenny Bingham.

The legislation includes five major reforms to our legal system that Republicans will improve our business climate:

• Limiting punitive damages to 3 times the amount of compensatory damages or $350,000 whichever is greater.
• Establishing a cap on the bond a business must post to file an appeal in a civil lawsuit –$25 million for large businesses and $1 million for small businesses.
• Reforming the Statute of Repose. The legislation assures that building code violations do not constitute fraud, gross negligence or recklessness. Violations may be introduced as evidence.
• Limiting the attorney’s fees an outside attorney can collect outside when employed by the Attorney General or a solicitor. The new system will establish a sliding scale to fairly compensate the attorneys while not adding a burdensome cost to the taxpayers.
• Repealing the statute that makes it impossible to show someone failed to use a seat belt.

“This lawsuit abuse reform bill will provide the same fair balance and results our successful Medical Tort Reform efforts accomplished five years ago,” said Speaker of the House Bobby Harrell. “Businesses will be able to operate and grow without the constant threat of a costly frivolous lawsuit or overly inflated settlement putting them out of business.”

After a routine third reading, the legislation will go to the Senate

“This bill is ultimately about jobs – as are all of the items the Republican Caucus considers this year,” said Bruce Bannister, the Caucus’ assistant majority leader. “This is also another completed Caucus agenda item as we work hard to improve our business climate.”

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