After Mississippi's legislature adjourned without passing tort-reform legislation, Gov. Haley Barbour called a special session which resulted in an early June approval of HB 13.
The action should bring stability and predictability back to the state's civil justice system, according to the American Insurance Association. "Achieving comprehensive civil justice reform has been a multi-year process: the legislation that passed in 2002 was a first step and HB 13 completes the process," said Cecil Pearce, AIA vice president, southeast region.
Along with changes to the law made in 2002 and new rules limiting joinder issued by the state supreme court in February, HB 13 completes venue and joinder reform by requiring that cases be tried where they arise and that each plaintiff in a lawsuit establish proper venue. HB 13 also establishes the doctrine of forum non conveniens, which allows the court to dismiss an action or transfer it to another county if it would be more properly heard elsewhere.
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