HB 1513

CS

CHAMBER ACTION

1	The Judiciary Committee recommends the following:
2
3	Council/Committee Substitute
4	Remove the entire bill and insert:
5	A bill to be entitled
6	An act relating to civil justice reform; amending s.
7	47.051, F.S.; revising procedures for bringing actions
8	against corporations; creating s. 768.1259, F.S.; defining
9	the term "seller"; prohibiting commencing or maintaining a
10	civil claim or action against a seller under certain
11	circumstances; specifying criteria for actions for product
12	liability of a seller; amending s. 768.81, F.S.; deleting
13	exceptions to a requirement for liability based on
14	percentage of fault instead of joint and several
15	liability; providing applicability; providing an effective
16	date.
17
18	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
19
20	Section 1.  Section 47.051, Florida Statutes, is amended to
21	read:
22	47.051  Actions against corporations.--Actions against
23	domestic corporations shall be brought only in the county where
24	such corporation has its principal place of, or usually keeps,
25	an office for transaction of its customary business, where the
26	cause of action accrued, or where the property in litigation is
27	located. Actions against foreign corporations doing business in
28	this state shall be brought in their principal place of business
29	a county where such corporation has an agent or other
30	representative, where the cause of action accrued, or where the
31	property in litigation is located. If venue against a foreign
32	corporation is not otherwise available under this section, an
33	action may be commenced where the plaintiff resided at the time
34	of the accrual of the cause of action.
35	Section 2.  Section 768.1259, Florida Statutes, is created
36	to read:
37	768.1259  Protection from liability for sellers.--
38	(1)  As used in this section, the term "seller" means a
39	person who sells a product as a retailer, distributor, or
40	wholesaler or who otherwise transfers a product to another for
41	compensation.
42	(2)  A person may not commence or maintain a civil claim or
43	action against the seller of a product based on any legal theory
44	that the product caused harm of any kind unless the seller:
45	(a)  Manufactured, produced, or designed the product;
46	(b)  Altered, modified, assembled, or failed to maintain
47	the product in a manner that caused harm to the claimant; or
48	(c)  Knew, or in the exercise of reasonable care, should
49	have known, that the product was recalled prior to sale.
50	(3)  Notwithstanding subsection (2), the seller of a
51	product is subject to an action for product liability if the
52	manufacturer of the product is not subject to personal
53	jurisdiction in this state.
54	Section 3.  Subsection (3) of section 768.81, Florida
55	Statutes, is amended to read:
56	768.81  Comparative fault.--
57	(3)  APPORTIONMENT OF DAMAGES.--In cases to which this
58	section applies, the court shall enter judgment against each
59	party liable on the basis of such party's percentage of fault
60	and not on the basis of the doctrine of joint and several
61	liability., except as provided in paragraphs (a), (b), and (c):
62	(a)  Where a plaintiff is found to be at fault, the
63	following shall apply:
64	1.  Any defendant found 10 percent or less at fault shall
65	not be subject to joint and several liability.
66	2.  For any defendant found more than 10 percent but less
67	than 25 percent at fault, joint and several liability shall not
68	apply to that portion of economic damages in excess of $200,000.
69	3.  For any defendant found at least 25 percent but not
70	more than 50 percent at fault, joint and several liability shall
71	not apply to that portion of economic damages in excess of
72	$500,000.
73	4.  For any defendant found more than 50 percent at fault,
74	joint and several liability shall not apply to that portion of
75	economic damages in excess of $1 million.
76
77	For any defendant under subparagraph 2., subparagraph 3., or
78	subparagraph 4., the amount of economic damages calculated under
79	joint and several liability shall be in addition to the amount
80	of economic and noneconomic damages already apportioned to that
81	defendant based on that defendant's percentage of fault.
82	(b)  Where a plaintiff is found to be without fault, the
83	following shall apply:
84	1.  Any defendant found less than 10 percent at fault shall
85	not be subject to joint and several liability.
86	2.  For any defendant found at least 10 percent but less
87	than 25 percent at fault, joint and several liability shall not
88	apply to that portion of economic damages in excess of $500,000.
89	3.  For any defendant found at least 25 percent but not
90	more than 50 percent at fault, joint and several liability shall
91	not apply to that portion of economic damages in excess of $1
92	million.
93	4.  For any defendant found more than 50 percent at fault,
94	joint and several liability shall not apply to that portion of
95	economic damages in excess of $2 million.
96
97	For any defendant under subparagraph 2., subparagraph 3., or
98	subparagraph 4., the amount of economic damages calculated under
99	joint and several liability shall be in addition to the amount
100	of economic and noneconomic damages already apportioned to that
101	defendant based on that defendant's percentage of fault.
102	(c)  With respect to any defendant whose percentage of
103	fault is less than the fault of a particular plaintiff, the
104	doctrine of joint and several liability shall not apply to any
105	damages imposed against the defendant.
106	(a)(d)  In order to allocate any or all fault to a
107	nonparty, a defendant must affirmatively plead the fault of a
108	nonparty and, absent a showing of good cause, identify the
109	nonparty, if known, or describe the nonparty as specifically as
110	practicable, either by motion or in the initial responsive
111	pleading when defenses are first presented, subject to amendment
112	any time before trial in accordance with the Florida Rules of
113	Civil Procedure.
114	(b)(e)  In order to allocate any or all fault to a nonparty
115	and include the named or unnamed nonparty on the verdict form
116	for purposes of apportioning damages, a defendant must prove at
117	trial, by a preponderance of the evidence, the fault of the
118	nonparty in causing the plaintiff's injuries.
119	Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law
120	and shall apply to causes of action that accrue on or after the
121	effective date.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.