March 30th should be a red-letter day for every businessperson
in the state of Florida. That was the day that the Florida Senate
in a historic vote passed the Repeal of Joint & Several Liability!
On a vote of 27 – 13, the Senators signaled that fairness
was going to be the name of the game in our civil justice system.
Since 1973 and the Hoffman case, Joint and Several has been a
part of Florida Statute. And since that time, AIF has fought repeatedly
to repeal this unfair and onerous provision which forces deep
pocket defendants to pay more than their fair share to an injured
party. In 1986, 1999 and again last year, AIF attempted to excise
this tort law; and every time we were not successful. The closest
we came to victory was a negotiated compromise in 1999 when then-House
Speaker John Thrasher worked diligently to advance the cause of
the business community. That compromise, while better than the
status quo at that time, still left the potential for defendants
to pay more than their fair share, although not as much as before,
so it was a partial victory. But as you know, AIF is nothing if
not relentless.
Omnibus Tort
Reform in 2005
In 2005, AIF drafted the famous 111-page proposed bill which
eventually became the omnibus tort reform bill – HB 1513
– filed by 2005 Champion for Business recipient Rep. Don
Brown (R-DeFuniak Springs), who as an insurance agent understood
the consequences of the current law. Ultimately that bill was
passed by the Florida House, the first time since we became a
state in 1845 that tort reform legislation had passed one of the
two legislative chambers. From there it was sent to the Senate
and it died without ever being heard. From that moment forward
it was the goal of AIF to get the straight and simple Repeal of
Joint & Several Liability up for a vote in the Senate in the
2006 session.
What made the difference? In a word, “Leadership.”
To begin with, once again Governor Jeb Bush made the Repeal of
Joint & Several a priority issue. You can’t begin this
process without the unqualified support of a Governor; because
even if the House and Senate pass a bill favorable to the business
community, if the Governor isn’t with you, then he or she
can veto the bill. Well, this Governor has not only been with
us on this issue, he has led the charge. Then you need a Speaker
of the House, someone exactly like Allan Bense (R-Panama City),
who is going to push the bill through his chamber. Eight years
ago when the Speaker first ran for the House he campaigned on
a tort reform platform, and he has never given up on his desire
for change. Last year he successfully maneuvered the bill through
his chamber garnering 79 votes in favor. This year he spearheaded
the charge again, and this time his leadership team produced 96
votes! Again, the sponsor was Rep. Brown who filed HB 145 and
who was dogged in his pursuit of tort reform. Finally, you need
a President of the Senate who is willing to throw the weight of
his office behind such a contentious and divisive issue. Many
forget that when Tom Lee (R-Brandon) first ran for the Senate
ten years ago, he filed tort reform legislation. His effort in
the Senate during his two-year term as President would be tough
because the trial bar has worked incredibly hard to curry favor
with GOP Senators to add to their solid Democratic base of support.
On final passage, every Republican Senator but two voted for tort
reform and even three Democrats crossed the aisle to add their
voice for change. So, this battle was fought and won not at the
grassroots level but at the leadership level, and each of these
three men were part and parcel of this very significant victory.
Without any one of them, we would have certainly failed again.
Now, the fight isn’t over. The House will continue to pass
other important tort reform bills: Class Action Reform, Premises
Liability, Expert Medical Witness, Statute of Repose, Sovereign
Immunity for Law Enforcement Officers, Mold Litigation; and as
they roll their way to the Senate, the trial bar is going to do
everything they can to attach the “Fabre fix” amendment
to one of those bills. According to the trial lawyers, the Fabre
fix will bring balance to the civil justice system; but in reality
it guts everything we won in getting Joint & Several repealed.
Therefore, our task is to continue to be vigilant and make sure
that the trial lawyers don’t win in a second or third battle,
and that means all the way to the end of the session on May 5th
at the final hour.
We Must Defend
Our Friends in November
More importantly, you and I, the business community, must be
prepared to duke it out with the trial lawyers in the coming elections.
I can assure you that they are not just going to go sit back and
take a defeat lightly. They are going to target one or two Senators
just like they did in 1988 when they defeated Dempsey Baron, the
most powerful Senator of the 20th Century. To this day, when the
trial bar threatens, some legislators have a little fear of being
defeated. Our job, AIF along with the rest of the business community,
is to come to the rescue of those Senator(s) that are targeted
for defeat by the trial bar based on their vote on this issue.
In doing so we will continue to prove to be a valuable ally to
Senators and they will come to know that if they make a tough
vote, we will be there to support them in a nasty reelection fight.
When September and November rolls around, we need to support
these key Senators, because if we don’t, and they are defeated,
the business community will never get the votes again like we
got on the 30th!!! There are going to be a lot of attempts to
get your dollars committed to a variety of issues, but there isn’t
a higher priority than defending those who defended our position
when we asked them to. If we don’t answer the bell when
it is rung, then we will have lost the momentum that we have already
built.
Don’t
Forget to Thank Them
Last week we sent out an electronic notice to each of you that
gave you a link to every legislator that voted in the Florida
Senate to support passage of Joint & Several Liability Reform
(House Bill 145). Please take a moment to thank them for their
extraordinary courage to buck the powerful trial bar. The 27 Senators
need to know that you know how they voted and that you appreciate
their position in favor of repealing this bad law which makes
anyone with the most money the “deep pocket.”
This is truly a monumental victory, the kind that doesn’t
come along very often. We can savor this win, but we must remain
vigilant because our legislative enemies will not miss any opportunity
to undercut this just hard-won battle. Rest assured we will be
there to continue to defeat any attempt and to preserve our win,
and with your help and support this fall, we will support those
that supported the business community on this issue of simple
fairness in our legal system.
516 North Adams Street ● Post Office Box 784 ● Tallahassee, Florida 32302-0784 ● Phone: (850) 224-7173 ● Fax: (850) 224-6532 ● www.aif.com
