By: Sibley S.B. No. 614
99S0466/1
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to proportionate responsibility of persons who cannot
1-2 feasibly be joined in a lawsuit.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 33.003, Civil Practice and Remedies Code,
1-5 is amended to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 33.003. Determination of Percentage of Responsibility.
1-7 The trier of fact, as to each cause of action asserted, shall
1-8 determine the percentage of responsibility, stated in whole
1-9 numbers, for the following persons with respect to each person's
1-10 causing or contributing to cause in any way the harm for which
1-11 recovery of damages is sought, whether by negligent act or
1-12 omission, by any defective or unreasonably dangerous product, by
1-13 other conduct or activity that violates an applicable legal
1-14 standard, or by any combination of these:
1-15 (1) each claimant;
1-16 (2) each defendant;
1-17 (3) each settling person; [and]
1-18 (4) each responsible third party who has been joined
1-19 under Section 33.004; and
1-20 (5) each responsible third party who cannot feasibly
1-21 be joined.
1-22 SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 33, Civil Practice and
1-23 Remedies Code, is amended by adding Section 33.005 to read as
1-24 follows:
2-1 Sec. 33.005. DESIGNATION OF RESPONSIBLE THIRD PARTIES WHO
2-2 CANNOT FEASIBLY BE JOINED. (a) A defendant seeking to have a
2-3 person designated as a responsible third party who cannot feasibly
2-4 be joined must file a notice with the court designating that person
2-5 as a responsible third party who cannot feasibly be joined. A
2-6 notice filed under this subsection must be filed in accordance with
2-7 the deadlines established for joining responsible third parties in
2-8 Sections 33.004(a), (d), and (e). Failure to file a notice within
2-9 the established deadlines may be excused by the court upon a
2-10 showing of good cause.
2-11 (b) A claimant may file an objection to a designation filed
2-12 under Subsection (a). If an objection is filed, the court shall
2-13 determine whether the designation is proper.
2-14 (c) A designation under this section is proper if the court
2-15 determines that the designated person meets the definition
2-16 established in Section 33.011(6)(C) and the defendant pleads
2-17 sufficient facts concerning the alleged responsibility of the
2-18 designated person to satisfy the pleading requirements of the Texas
2-19 Rules of Civil Procedure.
2-20 (d) Filing of a notice under Subsection (a) or any finding
2-21 of fault against a responsible third party who cannot feasibly be
2-22 joined in a suit:
2-23 (1) does not by itself impose liability on the
2-24 responsible third party who cannot feasibly be joined; and
2-25 (2) may not be used in any other proceeding, on the
2-26 basis of res judicata, collateral estoppel, or any other legal
3-1 theory, to impose liability on the responsible third party who
3-2 cannot feasibly be joined.
3-3 SECTION 3. Subdivision (6), Section 33.011, Civil Practice
3-4 and Remedies Code, is amended by adding Paragraph (C) to read as
3-5 follows:
3-6 (C) "Responsible third party who cannot feasibly
3-7 be joined" includes:
3-8 (i) the claimant's employer, if the
3-9 employer maintained workers' compensation insurance coverage, as
3-10 defined by Section 401.011(44), Labor Code, at the time of the act,
3-11 event, or occurrence that is the basis of the claimant's suit; or
3-12 (ii) a person accused of performing a
3-13 criminal act that caused or contributed to causing the harm for
3-14 which the claimant seeks to recover damages, if there is clear and
3-15 convincing evidence that a criminal act occurred. If the identity
3-16 of a person under this Subparagraph is not known, that person may
3-17 be identified as "Jane Doe" or "John Doe" provided that all known
3-18 identifying characteristics of this person are stated in the notice
3-19 of designation.
3-20 SECTION 4. Subsection (b), Section 417.001, Labor Code, is
3-21 amended to read as follows:
3-22 (b) If a benefit is claimed by an injured employee or a
3-23 legal beneficiary of the employee, the insurance carrier is
3-24 subrogated to the rights of the injured employee and may enforce
3-25 the liability of the third party in the name of the injured
3-26 employee or the legal beneficiary. The insurance carrier's
4-1 subrogation interest is limited to the amount of the total benefits
4-2 assumed by the carrier or paid by the carrier to the employee or
4-3 the legal beneficiary less the amount by which the court reduced
4-4 the judgment based on the percentage of responsibility determined
4-5 by the trier of fact pursuant to Section 33.003, Civil Practice and
4-6 Remedies Code, attributable to an employer, as described in Section
4-7 33.011(6)(C)(i), Civil Practice and Remedies Code. If the recovery
4-8 is for an amount greater than the amount of the insurance carrier's
4-9 subrogation interest [that paid or assumed by the insurance carrier
4-10 to the employee or the legal beneficiary], the insurance carrier
4-11 shall:
4-12 (1) reimburse itself and pay the costs from the amount
4-13 recovered; and
4-14 (2) pay the remainder of the amount recovered to the
4-15 injured employee or the legal beneficiary.
4-16 SECTION 5. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
4-17 (b) The changes in law made by this Act apply only to a
4-18 cause of action commenced on or after the effective date of this
4-19 Act. A cause of action commenced before the effective date of this
4-20 Act is governed by the law in effect at the time the action was
4-21 commenced, and the former law is continued in effect for that
4-22 purpose.
4-23 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
4-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-26 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-1 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.