I don't think tort reform would be as big an issue as it is if not for the ridiculously large awards juries have made for loss of life, pain and suffering, or punitive awards against the defendant. That plus the class action suits that lawyers put together, principally as a way to make themselves a whole lot of money.

I think the following couple of rules would solve the problem. I even think that my proposals would be fairly hard to debate--I hope so at least. Here are my ideas...

-- Awards for loss of life should be required to be calculated giving significant weight to the education, occupation and recent income of the decedent. Said a little more coarsely, an award for an uneducated ditch digger should be less than the award for the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. In either case, however, the award for loss of life should be limited to a multiple of the decedent's recent annual income or potential to earn an income, maybe 3 to 5X, or an estimate of what that income would have been, based on his eduction and work experience.

-- Awards for pain and suffering should be limited to a fixed amount, somewhere in the range of $1 million maximum seems fair.

-- There shall be no punitive awards permitted.

-- Class action suits shouldn't be prohibited, but the same award limitations listed above should apply to the members of the class. In addition, the amount of the plaintiff's lawyer's fees should be limited to a percentage of the final award, say an amount not to exceed 15%, or 110% of the actual billable hours documented by the plaintiff's lawyers at their standard hourly rates in effect immediately prior to the filing of the suit.

-- In the case of any medical malpractice or personal injury lawsuit, the unsuccessful plaintiff should be required to pay the legal fees and court costs of the defendant.

These simple rules would dramatically reduce the number of medical malpractice suits filed. At the same time, the awards specified for successful plaintiffs seem (to me anyway) fair from the viewpoint of their "value" to society and their proven ability to earn an income.