Copyright 1999 The Tribune Co. Publishes The Tampa Tribune
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April 29, 1999, Thursday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NATION/WORLD, Pg. 1
LENGTH: 849 words
HEADLINE:
Tort reform in panic stage;
BYLINE: MARGARET TALEV, of The Tampa Tribune;
BODY:
TALLAHASSEE - With the clock ticking,
the battle over tort reform begins to dominate the Legislature.
Two of the most powerful groups in Florida - trial lawyers and business
owners - swarmed through the state Capitol on Wednesday like opposing
armies in pursuit of some ultimate victory.
For three years they have
thrown millions of dollars into the battle, dueled through television ads,
and worked to remove from office any elected official standing in the way.
The prize they're after has not seized the public's attention like Gov.
Jeb Bush's education reforms or the Legislature's $ 1 billion in tax cuts.
But to businesses and law firms in Florida, and to citizens caught in the
cross-fire, the outcome can be measured in the way that matters most:
money. The prize is tort reform - a revamping of the state's civil justice
system that would curb personal injury lawsuits against businesses large
and small. Lawyers don't want it. Businesses do.
With two days remaining
in the legislative session, the stage was set Wednesday for a final
pitched fight.
If tort reform doesn't pass this year, leaders
agree it won't come up in 2000. It's too controversial a topic for an
election year.
Many thought tort reform would be a foregone conclusion
this year between a business-friendly Legislature and another ally, Bush.
But the House wanted a stronger bill than the Senate. Official talks
stalled weeks ago.
Working behind the scenes with staff and lobbyists,
Senate Majority Leader Jack Latvala, R-Palm Harbor, prepared a compromise.
It would protect manufacturers whose defective products are more than 12
years old, or older in the case of airplanes and railroad equipment.
The measure would prevent victims of latent disease from suing most
product manufacturers more than 12 years after they used a product.
It would impose new limits on the punitive damages defendants could be
forced to pay in most cases of wrongdoing, but the caps would be higher
than those the House originally wanted. It would recast the way in which
liability is figured when a case has more than one defendant.
Under
Latvala's plan, plaintiffs less than 10 percent at fault would only be
responsible for their own share. If plaintiffs shared part of the blame
for their own injuries, the damages awarded could be cut by half.
While the House, the governor's staff and business lobbyists said
Wednesday they are prepared to accept the plan, Latvala's fellow senators
may not.
Several senators complained Wednesday that only Latvala had
seen the bill and that there was little time to study it.
One
senator said she had planned to support tort reform but might change her mind
because she was so offended by attack ads by the business lobby.
Sen. John Grant, R-Tampa, a lawyer, argued Latvala was pushing for
changes that aren't needed. Grant scoffed that is not possible to come up
with numerical calculations for pain and suffering.
"You can't take the
facts and put them in a calculator like a businessman would do," he said.
Neal Roth, president-elect of the Florida Academy of Trial Lawyers,
charged Latvala's plan was weak on consumer protection and would satisfy
"the asbestos people, the drug manufacturers ... the tobacco companies."
He promised a court challenge if the bill passes.
George Meros of the
Tort Reform United Effort, accused trial lawyers of trying to hold onto a
system in which "a drunk driver can be 95 percent responsible for his own
loss and sue the other (driver) 5 percent and make money." He said
Latvala's plan was no more pro-business than what many other states
already have in place.
Late Wednesday, trial lawyers said they didn't
think Latvala had the 21 Senate votes needed to pass the bill.
Business lobbyists said he did have 21 votes. Meanwhile, the two sides
had a combined force of some 50 lobbyists fanned out in the Capitol,
pressing the 40 members of the Senate to side with them.
House
lawmakers, concerned a Senate offer might never surface, scrambled Wednesday for
a way to push the Senate to a vote.
"I feel like I went to the
dance and got stood up," said House Speaker John Thrasher, R-Orange Park,
after a proposed meeting between House and Senate negotiators fell through.
Thrasher said that rather than wait for Senate negotiators, he might
take Latvala's tort reform language and try to get it amended onto a House
bill that could quickly be passed and sent to the Senate, forcing senators
to vote.
At the same time, Thrasher and one of his right-hand men, Rep.
Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo, were preparing a public relations campaign in case
tort reform doesn't pass.
"I feel like we could go home tomorrow,"
Thrasher said, noting all the other items on the Republican agenda had
been passed. "If we don't pass tort reform it'll be disappointing (but) I've
done all I can do."
Feeney, expected to become House speaker after
Thrasher's term is up, described Republican leaders as "batting about
.900," even without tort reform.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO (C),
(C) Senate Majority Leader Jack Latvala, R-Palm Harbor, has been working on
a compromise tort reform bill. COLIN HACKLEY, Tribune photo
LOAD-DATE: April 30, 1999 
