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Neville Boschert

The Mississippi Legislature's Tort Reform Act of 2004 has had a greater impact on litigation in the pharmaceutical field than in the medical device field, said Neville Boschert, chair of the litigation practice group at Watkins Ludlam Winter & Stennis, PA, in Jackson.

"Formerly, they would have a suit with 100 plaintiffs where they would have one or two people who lived in the county where the suit was filed and then lump everybody in there together," he said. "Judicial tort reform has also made a big difference. The Mississippi Supreme Court has interpreted our joinder rules and venue rules differently than in the past. They used to be much more liberal with that, and now the court has tightened up."

As a defense attorney, Boschert has noted that the trend over the past two years has been a shift from defending multi-plaintiff lawsuits to those that involve a single person with a single injury.

"There are still suits being filed, but not as many where you have the multiple plaintiff, because courts just aren't allowing them to be together," he said.

Boschert's clients are primarily out-of-state makers of pharmaceutical products and medical devices who sell their products in Mississippi.



December 2006

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