AMCNO Among Supporters of Limits to Jury Awards

On his last day in office, Attorney General Jim Petro asked the Ohio Supreme Court to uphold limits on jury awards in personal injury lawsuits. Now the job of defending the caps falls to new Attorney General Marc Dann – who voted against them in 2004. Pending before justices is a question of whether limits the General Assembly imposed on non-economic and punitive damages are constitutional. Also under challenge: a section that permits the introduction of evidence of collateral benefits, money an injured person receives from insurance or other sources. Those provisions were contained in an overhaul of the personal injury lawsuit system (SB80, 125th General Assembly) enacted two years ago. The request to determine their constitutionality came from U.S. District Judge David Katz of Toledo. More than a dozen organizations have filed friend of the court briefs on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants in the case. The Academy of Medicine of Cleveland & Northern Ohio supports enactment of the limits and was listed as a member of the Ohio Alliance for Civil Justice (OACJ) on the Amicus Brief detailing such, in addition to such groups as the National Federation of Independent Business, the Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys, the Ohio Hospital Association, the Product Liability Advisory Counsel, and the International Association of Defense Counsel.