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Washington, DC,
March 30, 2006—Florida is poised to enact meaningful civil
justice reform legislation after the Senate today passed H.B.
145, joint and several liability reform legislation, by a vote
of 27-13. The bill now awaits approval from Governor Jeb Bush
(R), who is expected to sign the legislation.
“We commend Florida
Legislators for passing meaningful civil justice reform
legislation that will restore fairness to the state’s liability
system,” American Tort Reform Association President Sherman
Joyce said. “This legislation will address the inequity in the
law and bolster Florida’s economy by providing an environment
that both attracts and retains businesses."
Current Florida law
allows deep-pocketed defendants to pay more than their fair
share of jury awards in cases where there are multiple
defendants. H.B. 145 eliminates this system of joint liability
and replaces it with a system in which each co-defendant is
proportionately liable only for his or her share of the
plaintiff’s harm.
“For too long, state
law had given personal injury lawyers incentives to pursue
action against the wealthiest defendant, even if they were the
least at fault,” Joyce said. “By eliminating the rule of joint
and several liability lawmakers have ensured that every
defendant will receive fair treatment in Florida courts. As
lawmakers continue to take these types of legislative steps
toward reform, Florida’s reputation as a Judicial Hellhole ®
will continue to improve.”
Certain areas of
Florida have been named in each of the four annual Judicial
Hellholes reports with the 2005 report ranking South Florida as
the sixth worst jurisdiction nationwide. The problematic areas
include primarily Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties.
Judicial Hellholes
are state trial court jurisdictions where ATRA believes that
impartial justice is unavailable. Personal injury lawyers seek
out these jurisdictions and file cases there because they know
they will receive a large award, a favorable precedent, or both.
“We would also like to commend the tireless effort of the
Florida Justice Reform Institute for helping to bring this issue
to the forefront of the political debate,” Joyce said. “This
legislative success would not have been possible without their
continuous work.”
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