BREAKING NEWS: PENNSYLVANIA "FAIR SHARE ACT" (12/07/05)

Last night (December 6, 2005), the Pennsylvania Senate voted 31-18 to pass SB 435, which would replace the Fair Share Act of 2002 with identical legislation eliminating joint and several tort liability in Pennsylvania. Under the Act, in civil actions accruing after August 2002 where liability for negligence is attributed to more than one defendant, each defendant can only be held liable for proportional damages equal to his proportion of the total liability. The House will now consider the Senate-passed Bill. The vote followed an attempt to derail SB 435 in favor of a competing bill favored by the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association which would have reinstated joint and several liability. That bill, sponsored by Senator Stewart Greenleaf, was defeated 26-24. While the current version of SB 435 would, if enacted, go into effect immediately, it is too early to determine when any final version would go into effect.

We will keep you posted as further developments take place. In the interim, if you have any questions about the above, please call us at 215-587-9400.