Senate Faces Lawsuit Abuse Reform Vote Next Week

On Tuesday of this week, the Senate Judiciary Committee met to consider legislation that would change Pennsylvania’s current judicial system of joint and several liability. Under such a system, defendant(s) in a multi-defendant civil liability lawsuit may be required to pay damages associated with the actions of its/their co-defendants, if said co-defendants are unable to cover the cost, themselves. This would mean that a defendant found liable for 5 percent of the damages in a multi-defendant lawsuit could theoretically be required by the courts to pay 100 percent of the damages awarded.

 

The bill – Senate Bill 1131, offered by Chairman of the committee Sen. Steward Greenleaf (R-Montgomery) – would change the state’s legal system to one of comparative negligence, with certain significant exceptions. These exceptions include civil cases in which “a minor has a beneficial interest” in the trial’s outcome. This would apply not only to cases in which said minor is the injured party, but in cases that would positively affect a minor even tangentially related to the injured party.

 

According to the bill’s detractors, this exception is too broadly written and could theoretically be applied to nearly all civil lawsuits. These parties would prefer the bill be amended to reflect prior iterations of what is known as the Fair Share Act – namely, House Bill 1 or Senate Bill 2. Senate Bill 2, introduced by Senate Appropriations Chair Jake Corman (R-Centre), for example, would create a system in which one party in a multi-defendant lawsuit held partially at fault would be obligated to pay total damages if other parties could not, and if the following also apply: that party is found to be at least 60 percent responsible for the damages, that party intentionally misrepresented or broke the law, that party released a hazardous substance, or that party violated the state liquor code.

 

On Monday, the Senate is expected to consider Senate Bill 1131, along with amendments that would conform its language to mirror that of Senate Bill 2. The vote is anticipated to be close, and may ultimately be decided by the Lieutenant Governor’s tie-breaking “yea” or “nay.” The Corbett administration has made legal liability reform a priority, and both the House and Senate leaders have vocally supported initiatives to see that legislation makes it to the governor’s desk before the General Assembly breaks for its summer recess. The administration has yet to comment publicly as to whether it would support the “watered down” version of the Fair Share Act, as it is represented in Sen. Greenleaf’s bill. If the bill is passed by the Senate, amended or not, it will go to the House for that chamber’s consideration.