On November 17th, CCL filed its reply in support of its petition for review in Hughes v. Pham in the California Supreme Court. The case, discussed here and here, involves a constitutional challenge to the $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases that was enacted in 1975 as a part of the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA). CCL Senior Litigation Counsel Valerie M. Nannery, representing Trent and Lisa Hughes, whose noneconomic damages were reduced from $3.75 million to $500,000 under the MICRA cap, urged the California Supreme Court to grant review of the jury trial and separation of powers issues presented in the petition. The California Supreme Court has never addressed whether the MICRA cap violates the state’s “inviolate” constitutional right to a jury trial or separation of powers. In recent years, several other state supreme courts have overturned caps on damages on jury trial and separation of powers grounds.

The plaintiffs are represented by CCL’s Valerie M. Nannery, David Bricker of Waters Kraus & Paul in Los Angeles, CA, Burt Rosenblatt of Ely, Bettini, Ulman & Rosenblatt in Phoenix, AZ, and Steven B. Stevens in Los Angeles, CA.