T.World Editors: Now Is The Time To Deal With Lawsuit Reform
Tulsa World: Editorial: Now is the time to deal with lawsuit reform
By World’s Editorial Writers
The Oklahoma Legislature begins a special session Tuesday to reconfigure the state’s lawsuit reform statutes.
The statutes were passed in 2009 and 2011, but were killed earlier this year by the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
Among other things, the 2009 law restricted court-shopping for class-action lawsuits and contained a provision for the review of attorney fees in class-action suits. It also limited non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering.
The Supreme Court ruled that the 2009 law dealt with more than one topic and was therefore unconstitutional, although another non-economic damage cap law remains in effect.
The 2011 law required expert certification for professional negligence cases, such as malpractice suits.