Florida Senate - 2005                        SENATOR AMENDMENT
    Bill No. HB 1931, 1st Eng.
                        Barcode 842594
                            CHAMBER ACTION
              Senate                               House
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       05/04/2005 08:56 PM         .                    
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11  Senator Campbell moved the following amendment:
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13         Senate Amendment (with title amendment) 
14         Between lines 86 and 87,
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16  insert:  
17         Section 5.  Subsection (3) of section 768.81, Florida
18  Statutes, is amended to read:
19         768.81  Comparative fault.--
20         (3)  APPORTIONMENT OF DAMAGES.--In cases to which this
21  section applies, the court shall enter judgment against each
22  party liable on the basis of such party's percentage of fault
23  and not on the basis of the doctrine of joint and several
24  liability. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
25  contrary, fault shall not be allocated to a nonparty to the
26  action, and no nonparty to the action, whether named or
27  unnamed, shall be included on the verdict form for purposes of
28  apportioning damages., except as provided in paragraphs (a),
29  (b), and (c):
30         (a)  Where a plaintiff is found to be at fault, the
31  following shall apply:
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    11:44 AM   05/04/05                          h193102e1c-32-z9r

Florida Senate - 2005 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. HB 1931, 1st Eng. Barcode 842594 1 1. Any defendant found 10 percent or less at fault 2 shall not be subject to joint and several liability. 3 2. For any defendant found more than 10 percent but 4 less than 25 percent at fault, joint and several liability 5 shall not apply to that portion of economic damages in excess 6 of $200,000. 7 3. For any defendant found at least 25 percent but not 8 more than 50 percent at fault, joint and several liability 9 shall not apply to that portion of economic damages in excess 10 of $500,000. 11 4. For any defendant found more than 50 percent at 12 fault, joint and several liability shall not apply to that 13 portion of economic damages in excess of $1 million. 14 15 For any defendant under subparagraph 2., subparagraph 3., or 16 subparagraph 4., the amount of economic damages calculated 17 under joint and several liability shall be in addition to the 18 amount of economic and noneconomic damages already apportioned 19 to that defendant based on that defendant's percentage of 20 fault. 21 (b) Where a plaintiff is found to be without fault, 22 the following shall apply: 23 1. Any defendant found less than 10 percent at fault 24 shall not be subject to joint and several liability. 25 2. For any defendant found at least 10 percent but 26 less than 25 percent at fault, joint and several liability 27 shall not apply to that portion of economic damages in excess 28 of $500,000. 29 3. For any defendant found at least 25 percent but not 30 more than 50 percent at fault, joint and several liability 31 shall not apply to that portion of economic damages in excess 2 11:44 AM 05/04/05 h193102e1c-32-z9r
Florida Senate - 2005 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. HB 1931, 1st Eng. Barcode 842594 1 of $1 million. 2 4. For any defendant found more than 50 percent at 3 fault, joint and several liability shall not apply to that 4 portion of economic damages in excess of $2 million. 5 6 For any defendant under subparagraph 2., subparagraph 3., or 7 subparagraph 4., the amount of economic damages calculated 8 under joint and several liability shall be in addition to the 9 amount of economic and noneconomic damages already apportioned 10 to that defendant based on that defendant's percentage of 11 fault. 12 (c) With respect to any defendant whose percentage of 13 fault is less than the fault of a particular plaintiff, the 14 doctrine of joint and several liability shall not apply to any 15 damages imposed against the defendant. 16 (d) In order to allocate any or all fault to a 17 nonparty, a defendant must affirmatively plead the fault of a 18 nonparty and, absent a showing of good cause, identify the 19 nonparty, if known, or describe the nonparty as specifically 20 as practicable, either by motion or in the initial responsive 21 pleading when defenses are first presented, subject to 22 amendment any time before trial in accordance with the Florida 23 Rules of Civil Procedure. 24 (e) In order to allocate any or all fault to a 25 nonparty and include the named or unnamed nonparty on the 26 verdict form for purposes of apportioning damages, a defendant 27 must prove at trial, by a preponderance of the evidence, the 28 fault of the nonparty in causing the plaintiff's injuries. 29 30 (Redesignate subsequent sections.) 31 3 11:44 AM 05/04/05 h193102e1c-32-z9r
Florida Senate - 2005 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. HB 1931, 1st Eng. Barcode 842594 1 ================ T I T L E A M E N D M E N T =============== 2 And the title is amended as follows: 3 On line 23, after the semicolon, 4 5 insert: 6 amending s. 768.81, F.S.; prohibiting 7 allocation of fault to a nonparty and inclusion 8 on jury verdict forms; deleting exceptions to a 9 requirement for liability based on percentage 10 of fault instead of joint and several 11 liability; 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 4 11:44 AM 05/04/05 h193102e1c-32-z9r