Never have such important rights been lost so quietly. The Pa. legislature abolished Joint and Several liability here by virtually eliminating a victim of negligence being able to recover those damages a jury has determined are owed by wrongdoers. Most striking is that the loss of such rights went without comment in the press and other media.
Under the law which existed prior to the recent legislative mandate, when more than one person or organization combined jointly in their carelessness to devastate the life of an innocent victim, all of the wrongdoers were responsible for the injuries they jointly caused. This made good sense since they would only have been held jointly responsible because it was not possible to separate out the injury which they independently caused.
Now, because of this unfair change in the law, a jury is responsible for deciding the undecidable. After finding that certain persons or organizations are jointly and invisibly responsible they are required to apportion responsibility in percentages which must add up to 100%. Anyone found less than 60% responsible can not be made to pay more than the share of the verdict the jury has apportioned to them.
Bottom line, an innocent victim receiving a fair verdict will only collect if each of the wrongdoers have adequate insurance or assets. The now smirking Defendents who have the resources are no longer required to see to it that the entire verdict is paid.
Only the Orthopedists in Pa. recognized the potential threat to their member clients to join with the trial lawyers and others who opposed this unfair legislation.
Did you even know that this had happened?