Ads run against tort reform bill

The bill would place a cap on punitive damages for intentional misconduct.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- Advocates for trial lawyers are taking to the television airwaves in a bid to derail legislation that would revise civil-litigation laws in Ohio.
TV ads began airing Tuesday in all major Ohio media markets against a bill pending in the Ohio House that opponents fear would deter people from seeking redress for their problems through the state's courts.
The 30- and 60-second spots, which are funded by the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers, paint the measure, sponsored by state Sen. Steve Stivers, a Columbus Republican, as being tilted toward "insurance companies" and "corporate wrong-doers" in determining jury awards.
The ads "seek to shift the debate from Columbus and companies and insurance companies to real people," said Richard Mason, executive director of the OATL, which is made up of more than 1,800 trial attorneys statewide.
Would limit awards
The bill, which passed the Ohio Senate last year, would limit awards in lawsuits and would include other restrictions opposed by trial lawyers.
The measure, which is pending before a House of Representatives committee, would place a $100,000 cap on punitive damages for intentional misconduct.
The ads are to run on commercial and cable television through Thanksgiving weekend, Mason said. He declined to say how much it will cost the OATL to run the ads, made by a Columbus-based SOS Productions.
Both ads feature Erin Smith of central Ohio, who was severely injured in car crash involving a drunken driver.
The OATL said Smith was just 19 and a passenger on one of two motorcycles hit by a motorist who reportedly had been drinking heavily at several bars before the collision.
Trial lawyers said Erin Smith was in a coma for weeks because of her injuries.
Opponents of the proposed bill say they fear that if the measure passes, the motorist who reportedly hit the motorcycles would get a legal break.
Mother in ad
In the 60-second spot, sorrowful music plays as Smith's mother, Deborah Smith, says: "Memories of my daughter before her life was shattered by a drunk driver will be in my heart always."
Deborah Smith also says in the ad, "If this Senate bill is passed, and there's a cap put on money that can be acquired, it's going to difficult for a lot of people."
She goes on to say in the ad that medical and other bills would have eaten through all of the family's money. In the ad, a female voice then asks people to call their state lawmaker to oppose the bill.
The 30-second spot is similar.
GOP House leaders say they understand there are concerns with the bill, but that they are committed to possibly reporting a bill out of the lower chamber before the two-year legislative session ends in December.
"We want to make sure that we don't close off the courthouse doors to those who've been injured in our society," said state Rep. Scott Oelslager, a Canton Republican and the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee that is studying the measure.
If the House were to make changes to the Senate-passed version of the bill, the matter would have to return to the Senate as well as also be considered by Republican Gov. Bob Taft. Taft has been supportive of the legislation.