Tough talk: Washington DC outlines their tort reform plan
“Williams’s proposal seeks to cut liability premiums by limiting lawsuits. It would require injured patients who wish to sue to obtain a “certificate of merit” from a practicing D.C. doctor who agreed that there was “a reasonable basis” for the suit. Patients who cleared that hurdle could sue, but their attorneys would be barred from collecting fees in excess of 40 percent of the first $50,000 in damages and 15 percent of damages over $600,000.

Jury awards also would be limited. Doctors would be required to pay no more than $250,000 in non-economic damages, commonly known as pain and suffering. Hospitals would pay no more than $500,000 in non-economic damages to individual plaintiffs, with the total due all plaintiffs in a single lawsuit capped at $1 million.”

Prev
Next