Joint and Several liability reform is one of those “under the radar” issues that are very, very important to our daily lives as citizens in this country, but get precious little attention from the general media. Joint & Several is being discussed by state legislatures all over the country. I found this concise article about Joint & Several liability reform going on in the healthcare industry in Texas. It provides a quick summary of the issue.
Here’s a copy of the Senate Bill and the House Bill.
In Minnesota, Joint & Several liability reform has been an issue for cities for many years. This year, the legislature provided cities some measure of relief. Under current law, if a city were found to be 35% or more liable for an injury, the city could be ordered to pay up to 100% of the damages. This happened more than you’d think because, typically, cities had insurance coverage and its codefendents, typically, did not. This wasn’t always the case, but it happened frequently enough that it created a problem worthy of solving. What this ulitmately meant for you, the taxpaying public, is that you footed the cost for larger than necessary insurance costs for your cities because your cities were footing the bill for larger than necessary (or fair) damage awards in civil courts.
The new law, which was signed by the Governor on May 19, 2003, will push up the threshold from 35% to 50%. This may not sound like a big deal, but insurance and legal professionals are telling city officials that this change will make a significant change in the risk exposure that cities have in the civil courts. I hope so. When your city prevails in a situation like this, it’s good for you too. Costs incurred by your city are ultimately passed on to taxpayers. In this case, I think we may all get a win.
