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House Bill 837-Comparative Fault

Submitted by Melanie Barker on 28 Apr, 2023

Newly passed House Bill 837 makes substantial changes to comparative fault.  It replaces Florida’s pure comparative negligence system with a modified comparative negligence system.  For cases filed prior to this bill, Plaintiff could recover in proportion to the defendants’ percentage of responsibility for the plaintiff’s injuries regardless of plaintiff’s responsibility. For example, if a defendant was 40% responsible for plaintiff’s injuries, they would be responsible for payment of 40% of plaintiff’s damages.

For cases filed after passage of the bill, March 24, 2023, if a plaintiff is found to be greater than 50% at fault for his or her own harm, they may not recover damages.  What this means for defendants is that if a jury finds that if a plaintiff is at least 50.1% responsible for the accident, then that Plaintiff is not eligible to recover damages.  However, personal injury and wrongful death claims arising out of medical negligence are still subject to the pure comparative negligence standard.

Because of this change in the law, Proposals for Settlement are more critical than ever.  If the judge enters summary judgment for the defendant or the jury finds the Plaintiff more than fifty percent (50%) at fault, then the defendant will prevail on any PFS that has been filed and will be entitled to collect attorney fees.   The risk of a fee judgment should cause the Plaintiff to seriously consider whether to continue litigating their claim when they were the person who caused the accident.  We will work with our clients in serving a good faith PFS early in the litigation.