S.F. No. 95 - Joint and Several Liability (author's amendment)
Author:	Senator Linda Scheid
Prepared by:	Kathleen Pontius, Senate Counsel (651/296-4394)
Date:	April 11, 2003

Section 1 amends the statute dealing with the effect of contributory fault on a plaintiff's recovery. Under current law, contributory fault does not bar a recovery, provided that the fault of the person seeking recovery is not greater than the fault of the person against whom recovery is sought. This section would modify that rule so that a plaintiff would be able to recover as long as that person's contributory fault is not greater than the aggregate fault of all of the persons against whom recovery is sought.

Section 2 modifies the rules governing joint and several liability, which is the tort law concept under which multiple defendants who are liable for a damage award may be responsible for paying their proportion of the share of the award owed by another defendant who is judgment proof or otherwise unable to pay.

Current Minnesota law provides that when two or more persons are jointly liable, contributions to the award are in proportion to their percentage of fault, but each is jointly and severally liable for the entire award. This general rule is subject to specified exceptions. For example, a person whose fault is 15 percent or less is liable for no more than four times that person's percentage of fault (subject to fault arising out of certain types of environmental liability, for which full joint and several liability will still apply). In addition, if the state or a municipality is jointly liable and its fault is less than 35 percent, its joint and several liability will be no more than twice the amount of fault.

These rules would be modified to provide that joint and several liability will only apply to the following persons:

(1) a person whose individual fault is equal to or greater than 50 percent;

(2) two or more persons acting illegally and within a conspiracy that results in injury;

(3) two or more persons acting with a joint venture or enterprise or acting within a concerted plan or scheme that results in injury;

(4) a person who commits an intentional tort; or

(5) a person whose liability arises under the specified environmental laws in the current statute.

The other special rules in the current statute would be eliminated, consistent with these changes.

Section 3 contains an effective date of August 1, 2003, and the act would apply to claims arising from events that occur on or after that date.

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