Member Sign In
Renew your Membership
Membership Directory
Member Benefits
About the Chamber

• Promote Your Business
• Money-Saving Programs
• Electronic Certificates of Origin

• Taxes
• Health care
• Legal Reform
• Labor Laws
• Environmental Laws
• More...

A long-awaited lawsuit abuse reform measure that would replace the unbalanced legal doctrine of joint and several liability with proportional liability is one step closer to reaching the desk of Gov. Tom Corbett, who has promised to sign the bill.

The state Senate passed the measure on Tuesday, June 21 by a vote of 32 to 18.

Prior to final passage in the Senate, the bill cleared a hurdle on Monday, June 20 when the Senate adopted a floor amendment offered by Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre, that replaced a seriously weakened Fair Share Act bill, S.B. 1131, with language that passed the General Assembly in 2002 and 2006, and that was supported by the PA Chamber and a coalition of more than 50 business, health-care and local government groups, as well as by Pennsylvania citizens.

The PA Chamber made Fair Share Act re-enactment a No. 1 priority this session. Senate Bill 1131, with the Corman amendment, would ensure that a defendant in a civil case is only held financially responsible for their degree of fault, with exceptions for defendants found to be more than 60 percent liable, and for environmental and intentional torts, and liquor law violations.

Personal injury lawyers decry the effort to eliminate joint and several liability, under which multiple parties can be brought into a lawsuit in order to seek the defendant with the deepest pockets, regardless of degree of fault. Often times, joint and several is used to force settlements from defendants only minimally at fault, but that cannot afford possibly being held responsible for the entire damage award. This system of jackpot justice benefits personal injury lawyers at the expense of job creators, hospitals, doctors and consumers.

40 other states have recognized this fact and either repealed joint and several outright or never even had the law on the books. It’s time for Pennsylvania to do the same. 

With Senate approval secured, the legislation now moves on to the House, which said it would quickly vote the bill and send it to the governor’s desk.

“Job creators urge state House lawmakers to vote ‘YES’ on S.B. 1131 as passed by the Senate,” PA Chamber Vice President Gene Barr said in a press release issued by the PA Chamber. “After too much unnecessary delay, it’s time to re-enact the Fair Share Act and make progress on meaningful lawsuit abuse reform in the Commonwealth.”

###

The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry is the state’s largest broad-based business association, with thousands of statewide members representing businesses of all sizes and all industry sectors. The PA Chamber is The Statewide Voice of Business™. More information is available on the Chamber’s website at www.pachamber.org.