The Pennsylvania House Approves Tort Reform

     The Pennsylvania House of Representatives approved a reform of the Commonwealth's tort law in regard to joint and several liability.  Joint and several liability means that if one defendant cannot pay money to satisfy a judgment against him, the other defendants must.

     Pennsylvania is one of only a few states that lacks proportional liability, meaning that a defendant who is only 1% liable can end up paying 100% of the judgment.  The unfair lack of proportionality encourages the naming of “deep pockets,” i.e. businesses that are only tangentially related to the cause of action, but have more money than the primary defendant who is 99% liable.  The Keystone State's lack of proportional joint and several liability is regarded as an anti-business policy that harms its economic competitiveness.

     The bill approved by the majority Republican House introduces a degree of proportionality by protecting defendants less than 20% liable from being required to pay the full amount of the judgment.  The majority-Republican Senate is expected to approve the measure and Governor Tom Corbett, a Republican, is expected to sign it into law.