Efforts in Sacramento to put a cap on the recovery of punitive damages were stomped out on May 4, 2010, as a party-line vote killed pending tort reform legislation in the Assembly’s Judiciary Committee.

As reported previously, Assembly Bill 2740, authored by Assemblyman Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks) sought to limit punitive damages to three times the amount of compensatory damages. Because plaintiff’s attorneys routinely work on a contingency basis, this legislation was strongly opposed by plaintiff’s attorneys – arguing it was unnecessary. The bill would have also capped “pain and suffering” awards to $250,000.