Tort bill ready for full House action; bill would repeal joint and several in negligence cases.

Just as House Speaker Allan Bense wanted as one of his top priorities, a pro-business bill that would repeal the last vestiges of joint and several liability in apportioning economic damages in negligence cases passed out of the House Justice Council, uncluttered by amendments, and is now ready for a vote by the full House.

HB 145, sponsored by Rep. Don Brown, R-DeFuniak Springs, an insurance agent, was approved 8-2 along party lines February 22.

"Very simply, I believe people should pay for what they did wrong, not for the wrong of another," Brown said. "Yet, still in Florida today, people can pay millions for the wrongs caused by others. This is unjust. It makes no common sense, and it makes tort law, in many cases, unpredictable."

Brown read aloud a quote from Ft. Myers lawyer Bruce Strayhorn published in that day's Tallahassee Democrat: "The basic philosophy (of current law) is if someone is wronged, let's find the person who has the financial ability, usually the insurance con> party, to right the wrong."

"It is this kind of philosophy that is wrong with the system today," Brown said. "It is a philosophy that has to do with finding deep pockets and not finding people who were really at fault and having them pay their fair share."

The committee room was packed with lobbyists from 31 pro-business groups, including Associated Industries of Florida, American Tort Reform Association, Florida Justice Reform Institute, Florida Medical Association, National Federation of Independent Business, Florida Association of Realtors, Florida Association of Insurance Agents, Florida Institute of CPAs, Florida Retail Federation, Florida Bankers Association, Florida Chamber of Commerce, Florida Hospital Association, and Florida United Businesses Association.

Plaintiffs lawyer E. Clay Parker, who came from Orlando to testify, felt outnumbered.

"This is a Republican-dominated, business-dominated gathering," Parker said after the meeting. "'They are rushing to judgment, in lockstep with the governor, who is going out of office this year. This is a parting gift, all bow-wrapped."

Parker brought before-and-after pictures of his client, Claudia Mejia, a mother of two in her 20s who arrived at an Altamonte Springs hospital to have a healthy baby boy and ended up with her legs and arms amputated. Within a day, or two, Parker said, she broke out in a rash, had a high lever, and woke up from a coma 12 days later to be given a "'choice of dying or having her...