NAII Urges Illinois State Supreme Court to Uphold Constitutionality of State Law

The National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII) is urging the Illinois State Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality of a state law that prevents defendants that bear little responsibility for damages from being held accountable for more than their share of a damage award.

In the case Evans v. Vogler Motors, a jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff in a wrongful death and negligence case. The jury attributed 9 percent of the negligence to Vogler and the court ordered it to pay 9 percent of the total damage award. However following post-trial motions, the trial court ruled that the state’s several liability provision (Public Act 84-1431 Section 2-1117) was unconstitutional and entered a new judgment holding Vogler liable for the entire damage award.

“The trial court’s decision is contrary to the legislative intent which was that a defendant should not be liable for damages beyond its proportional share of fault,” said Laura Kotelman, counsel for NAII. “We urge the state supreme court to overrule the lower court and avoid creating a new liability insurance crisis.”

The law was originally enacted in 1986 to address the problem of high liability insurance costs that were in part caused by defendants being forced to pay entire damage awards even though they were only minimally at fault. The section of the law in question eliminates joint and several liability only for those defendants who are determined to be less than 25 percent at fault with regard to non-medical damages. Approximately 11 states have similar laws and at least three have been upheld against constitutional challenges.

“Contrary to the trial court’s ruling, the legislature’s decision to limit liability for medical damages to those defendants who are less than 25 percent at fault is not unconstitutional. This was a reasonable compromise designed to bring about greater fairness and end the liability insurance crisis. We hope the court will uphold the current law so that liability insurance remains available and affordable,” said Kotelman.

Topics Illinois