2-28-23
## Read Gov. Relations Consultant AJ Donelson's update below.
The Florida legislature approved and the Governor signed into law major tort reform legislation (HB 837) to limit lawsuit abuse against businesses and insurance companies. The legislation was fast tracked through the legislative process by House Speaker Paul Renner and Senate President Kathleen Passidomo.Significant changes include:
- Changes the state from a pure comparative negligence system to modified comparative negligence, where a party that is more than 50% at fault may not recover damages,
- Limits what evidence is admissible at trial to prove damages to the amount actually paid, not simply the billed amount,
- Reduces the statute of limitations in negligence actions from four years to two years from the time of the incident,
- Replaces one way attorney fees with an approach where each party to litigation should pay its own attorney fees,
- Eliminates fee multipliers for all lines of insurance, which have allowed plaintiffs’ attorneys to use a multiplier on top of a so-called “Lodestar” fee thereby securing higher fees when they prevail in litigation, and
- Modifies the standards for bad faith actions to incentivize good faith between both parties. The legislation, supported by major state trade associations, the insurance industry and employers, is designed to reduce the state’s number of frivolous lawsuits, promote transparency in damages, restore balance to the state’s legal system and increase the availability of insurance in Florida.