Senate
Passes the Elimination of Joint & Several Liability
March
30, 2006
In a monumental vote today, the Florida Senate passed a legal
reform bill – HB 145 – which abolishes joint and several
liability. The bill’s Senate sponsor, Senator Dan
Webster (R-Winter Garden) explained that the bill’s
intent and outcome is simply a matter of fairness. The bill insures
that people pay for the damages their mistakes cause but are not
forced to pay for the mistakes of others.
This legislative battle has been fought long and hard by AIF
and the Florida Coalition for Legal Reform for the past two years.
We have advocated the passage of this particular legislation as
the foremost key to legal reform for Florida to ensure a fair
and predictable legal system that will help Florida’s economic
prosperity continue into the future.
The Senate debate included some excellent discussion points from
several senators who have been steadfast supporters of the business
community on this issue. Senator Mike Haridopolos (R-Melbourne) included a statistic in his speech from a recent U.S. News and
World Report study which found that American companies spend approximately
$195 billion a year on research and development costs but they
also spend $205 billion on litigation expenses.
Senator Burt Saunders (R-Naples) also spoke
in favor of the bill and stated that his support was based on
his strong belief that this bill would help small businesses and
is the best thing for the “little guy.” He reminded
the senators that this was a policy decision and quoted the Florida
Supreme Court ruling in the much-discussed Fabre case that “There
is nothing inherently fair about a defendant who is 10% at fault
paying 100% of the loss, and there is no social policy that should
compel defendants to pay more than their fair share of the loss.”
Additionally, some senators expressed extreme concern over the
intense pressure they received from those who opposed this bill.
Two senators involved in these discussions were Senator
Larcenia Bullard (D-Miami) and Senator Mandy
Dawson (D-Ft. Lauderdale). Both of these senators voted
in favor of the bill today and cast votes yesterday to defeat
the unfriendly amendments. Both also spoke in favor of the bill
today and expressed their reasons for supporting the business
community’s position on this issue. In a very stirring and
heartfelt speech, Senator Bullard explained that her vote was
based on the desires of her constituents to see this bill pass.
Senator Dawson also explained that she supported the bill because
it was a matter of fairness.
Senator Jeff Atwater (R-North Palm Beach) eloquently
rebuffed many of the opponents’ criticism of the bill. He
pointed out like others that the bill created fairness but that
it was not an insurance bill or a health care bill -- it was only
directed to the judicial system.
In his closing statement, Senator Webster again reminded his
colleagues that they should vote against the bill if they believed
people should pay more than their fair share and vote for the
bill if they wanted to create a fair and balanced system where
the amount people pay is based on fault and not on the depth of
their pockets.
The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 27-13. The bill will
now be sent to the Governor to be signed into law. It will become
effective upon his signature.
Why
Is This Important?
While this is a legal issue and can at times become confusing
for many, the premise of this issue is of critical importance
not only to the business community but to all citizens of Florida.
Before this bill passed both the House and Senate, businesses
were often targeted as the deep pocket in legal cases, for no
other reason than they may have better insurance or more money
than those who could have been more at fault. These types of legal costs are both harmful and unfair to
business.
With the passage of HB 145, the scales of justice have been balanced.
A business, or anyone for that matter, now will only pay what
they are responsible for. So the Florida business community can
now operate in a fair and balanced legal system. This is a huge
victory for the men and women in Florida who go out each and every
day and strive to operate their business for the betterment of
their employees and their communities.
Let’s Express Our Appreciation
AIF and the Florida Coalition for Legal Reform salute the leadership
of Senator Webster and Senate President Tom Lee in getting this monumental legislation passed through the Florida
Senate. We also again applaud the work of House Speaker
Allan Bense and House bill sponsor Representative
Don Brown for their hard work in this great accomplishment.
The men and woman of the House and Senate who voted in favor of
this bill faced some harsh opposition in doing so. Some of them
crossed party lines to vote in favor of this good bill. We encourage
all AIF members to take a few moments and take a look at the list
below of the Florida Senators who withstood the pressure today
and voted for a more balanced legal system.
We also encourage you to click on the link to their email and
let them know how much you appreciate their efforts. It is critically
important that these Senators understand how much we appreciate
them passing this bill with no amendments and finally giving Florida
some legal fairness in our judicial system.
HB
145 Relating to Damage Apportionment/Civil Actions
By Representative Don Brown (R-DeFuniak Springs)
Final Passage on Senate Floor
27 Yeas to 13 Nays
The Following Senators voted for this
bill
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