In 1992, a 43 year-old woman was running errands on her birthday when a garbage truck drove from an alley to the street without stopping. In the blink of an eye, a hitch-lift arm on the truck (used for snow plowing) broke through her car windshield, killing her instantly. Three children were now without a mother.
Throughout my professional career as an attorney, I have heard and tried many tragic cases similar to the one above. You hear about these stories on the news, talk about them in your places of employment and hope you never become the victim. The sad fact is that serious injury through negligence happens every day to unexpected people no different than you or I. And, like the story above, in the blink of an eye, the life of the injured person and their family changes forever.
On March 9, 1995, the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1995 was signed into law. The law, which for obvious reasons later became known as the Wrongdoer Protection Act (PA 89-7), was designed primarily to limit the amount of damages a jury could reward a seriously injured person to be no more than $500,000.
To put this into perspective, if the cap on the non-economic damages was effective at the time the case went to trial, it would have reduced the garbage truck drivers liability by a staggering 81%. An enormous set back for injured victims.
In two decisions released in November and December of 1997, a bipartisan majority of the Illinois Supreme Court found the Wrongdoer Protection Act was in conflict with the Illinois Constitution and was struck down. The Court's decision echoed rulings from the Supreme Courts of more than a dozen other states which ruled that restricting the legal rights of injury victims violates their constitutional guarantees. During the time the Act was in effect:
- Businesses that sought to avoid the cost of their mistakes filed twice as many suits.
- Supporters of the act promised big economic benefits for Illinoisans, and even claimed that there were signs of these benefits. But, basic analysis shows that their math is wrong and self-serving. Consumers got no benefits from the Act.
- If the Act had been upheld, affected injury victims would have seen the value of their jury verdicts cut in half. Despite claims by Act supporters that the Act affected only a part of the jury verdict, affected victims' total compensation would be slashed by 60%.
- Insurance companies that supported the Act saw their profits grow nearly four-fold. If their political contributions are seen as an investment, they earned a return of over 3,000%.
- Supporters of the Act continue to give lavishly to candidates for public office, giving up over $7.5 million since the Act became law. Supporters describe these contributions as investments, and expect legislators to do what they want in exchange for the money.
- Angered that the Illinois Supreme Court chose to uphold the Constitution over its law, supporters of the Act have announced plans to meddle in the judicial elections in an effort to elect judges who will do their bidding.
While insurance companies and others greatly benefited from legislation found in the Wrongdoer Protection Act, victims and their family members (like the husband and three children of the 43-year-old woman killed) become victims all over again.
With the good news of the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1995 being struck down, we must now watch out for additional legislation in the future that might also impose barriers to seriously injured victims who seek justice through the legal system.
This explanation provides a basic understanding of tort reform and how it may affect you or a loved one. For additional information on this subject, contact Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. at 877-249-1227 or the Coalition for Consumer Rights at 312-939-4566.