Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Nick Rowley

80. Nick Rowley

We’ve mentioned the revision of the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) a number of times so far: Others involved in that deal may have better numbers on this list, but without attorney Nick Rowley there would have been no deal. Rowley authored and partly funded the Fairness for Injured Patients Act – a ballot initiative that, if passed, would have raised the longstanding $250,000 cap on medical malpractice claims to over $1 million. He, along with the Consumer Attorneys of California and Consumer Watchdog, used the threat of a costly ballot fight to help bring opponents to the negotiating table. Rowley and CAOC’s Craig Peters hammered out an outline of the deal with the California Medical Association and Californians Allied for Patient Protection by late March; On April 27, Assembly Bill 35, a newly gut-and-amended MICRA compromise, was introduced. The bill was signed by Gov. Newsom on May 23, ending one of the longest-running political battles in state history. While many hands were involved in crafting the agreement, everyone we spoke to credited Rowley as a motivating force and key player at every step.