Mississippi Adopts 'Tort Reform'

Months after the American Tort Reform Association declared Mississippi's 22nd Judicial District one of the “judicial hellholes” of the nation, the Special Session of the Mississippi Legislature that began on September 5, 2002, and ended on November 26, 2002, passed tort reform legislation impacting product liability litigants.

Over the last few years, Mississippi has been home to several enormous verdicts, including those for punitive damages, in state court product liability cases. For example, in Johnson v. AC&S Mfg., a jury awarded the six plaintiffs $150 million in actual damages in an asbestos product liability case. In Rankin v. Janssen Pharmaceuticals, the jury awarded ten plaintiffs $100 million in actual damages relating to use of the drug Propulsid. Finally, a jury awarded two plaintiffs $25 million in actual damages and $120 million in punitive damages in Robinson v. Ford, an automobile product liability case. The volume of litigation and high verdicts led the American Chamber of Commerce to name Mississippi one of the worst states in the nation in which to do business. While the reforms prompted the president of the Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association to declare, “[I]t's a bad day for Mississippi,” the reality is that the Legislature predictably compromised several issues of importance to segments of the business community. At a minimum, however, the new laws collectively represent a giant step in the right direction, particularly for product liability defendants. The significant provisions include the following: