SJR 8 Summary

• Proposes a constitutional amendment capping attorney contingency fees at 33 1/3 percent of net recovery in civil actions, with the General Assembly able to adjust this percentage by a two-thirds vote.

• Limits punitive damage awards in civil actions to the greater of $500,000 or three times the compensatory damages awarded, with an exception when defendants intentionally caused harm; these limits may be increased but not decreased by the General Assembly with a two-thirds vote.

• Caps non-economic damages (pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of companionship, etc.) at $500,000 per claimant or $500,000 aggregate for all beneficiaries in wrongful death cases; allows increases but prohibits decreases to these limits by the General Assembly with a two-thirds vote.

• Requires the General Assembly to adopt a procedure by the 2019 regular session to adjust damage award caps annually for inflation or deflation using the Consumer Price Index or comparable index, with rounding to the nearest $100.

• Grants the General Assembly power to amend or repeal Supreme Court rules of pleading, practice, and procedure by a three-fifths vote and to adopt its own procedural rules, with such legislative rules superseding conflicting Supreme Court rules.

• Amendment becomes effective January 1, 2019, and applies to civil actions accruing and contingency fee agreements signed on or after that date.