PRINTER'S NO. 3194
No. 2315 Session of 2002
INTRODUCED BY TURZAI, JANUARY 29, 2002
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, JANUARY 29, 2002
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the
2 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, abolishing joint and
3 several liability.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Section 7102(b) of Title 42 of the Pennsylvania
7 Consolidated Statutes is amended to read:
8 § 7102. Comparative negligence.
9 * * *
10 (b) Recovery against joint defendant[; contribution].--
11 (1) Where recovery is allowed against more than one
12 defendant, each defendant shall be liable for that proportion
13 of the total dollar amount awarded as damages in the ratio of
14 the amount of his causal negligence to the amount of causal
15 negligence attributed to all defendants against whom recovery
16 is allowed. [The plaintiff may recover the full amount of the
17 allowed recovery from any defendant against whom the
18 plaintiff is not barred from recovery. Any defendant who is
1 so compelled to pay more than his percentage share may seek
2 contribution.]
3 (2) The liability of each defendant for damages shall be
4 several only and shall not be joint. Each defendant shall be
5 liable only for the amount of damages allocated to that
6 defendant in direct proportion to that defendant's percentage
7 of fault, and a separate judgment shall be rendered against
8 the defendant for that amount. To determine the amount of
9 judgment to be entered against each defendant, the court,
10 with regard to each defendant, shall multiply the total
11 amount of damages recoverable by the plaintiff by the
12 percentage of each defendant's fault, and that amount shall
13 be the maximum recoverable against that defendant.
14 (3) In assessing percentages of fault, the trier of fact
15 shall consider the fault of all persons who contributed to
16 the death or injury to person or property, regardless of
17 whether the person was or could have been named as a party to
18 the action, except that negligence or fault of a nonparty may
19 be considered only if the plaintiff entered into a settlement
20 agreement with the nonparty or if the defending party gives
21 notice as prescribed by general rule that a nonparty was
22 wholly or partially at fault. The notice shall include the
23 nonparty's name and last known address or the best
24 identification of the nonparty which is possible under the
25 circumstances, together with a brief statement of the basis
26 for believing the nonparty to be at fault.
27 (4) Nothing in this subsection is meant to eliminate or
28 diminish any defenses or immunities under existing law,
29 except as expressly noted in this subsection. Assessments of
30 percentages of fault for nonparties are used only as a
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1 vehicle for accurately determining the fault of named
2 parties. Where fault is assessed against nonparties, the
3 findings of fault shall not subject any nonparty to liability
4 in the action or any other action or be introduced as
5 evidence of liability in any action.
6 (5) The burden of alleging and proving fault shall be
7 upon the person who seeks to establish the fault.
8 (6) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to
9 create a cause of action. Nothing in this subsection shall be
10 construed, in any way, to alter the immunity of any person.
11 * * *
12 Section 2. Subchapter B of Chapter 83 of Title 42 is
13 repealed.
14 Section 3. The provisions of this act are severable. If any
15 provision of this act or its application to any person or
16 circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect
17 other provisions or applications of this act which can be given
18 effect without the invalid provision or application.
19 Section 4. This act shall apply to all pending actions in
20 which a verdict has not been rendered on the effective date of
21 this act.
22 Section 5. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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