Possible tort reform in Florida

Bad news for victims of torts in Florida. The Legislature is apparently contemplating adopting a wide variety of reforms to protect defendants (mostly businesses and doctors) from liability. As reported in the St Augustine Record (here), the measures seek to increase the burden of proof for plaintiffs in "slip-and-fall" cases, to cap the fees that the attorney general's office can pay to outside attorneys, to provide some protections, perhaps through the state's sovereign immunity, to doctors who treat Medicaid patients and to make it more difficult for witnesses to qualify as expert witnesses. As all tort reform measures, these are designed to make it more difficult for plaintiffs to get representation, to get to bring claims or to recover. Thanks to the TortsProf blog for the link.