In Watts v. Lester Cox Medical Center, the Missouri Supreme Court held that a law limiting compensation for non-economic harm violated the right of trial by jury under the Missouri Constitution. The Court also overruled a 20-year-old precedent that had reached the opposite conclusion. In addition, the Court ruled that the trial court abused its discretion in adopting a periodic payment schedule for future medical damages that failed to assure full recovery.

CCL’s Andre M. Mura was lead appellate counsel for the plaintiffs in this case.

AMA News, Media Matters, and The St. Louis Post-Dispatch have coverage of the decision.