Done Deal: Tort Reform Is Coming To Florida

Earlier this month we reported that members of the Florida House of Representatives introduced a momentous tort reform bill, H.B. 837, that had passed in a House of Representatives subcommittee. Since then, both the Florida House of Representatives and Florida Senate have passed the measure and the bill is now on the desk of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for signature. It is anticipated Governor DeSantis will sign the bill today or next week.

Once the bill is signed into law it will become effective on or around July 1, 2023. As a result, plaintiffs’ attorneys have already started filing lawsuits (reports indicate upwards of 25,000 may be filed) and sending time limit policy demand letters to defendants in an effort to bypass the sweeping changes in H.B. 837, including:

• Switching from a “pure” comparative fault system to a “modified” comparative fault system, except for medical negligence cases, so that plaintiffs will be barred from recovering damages if their negligence is greater than 50 percent.
• Reducing the statute of limitations for general negligence and wrongful death actions from four years to two years. Medical malpractice actions are excluded from this limitation.
• Allowing juries to determine the accurate value of medical expenses by allowing them to see the amount the insurer was obligated to pay for the medical treatment or services, as well as medical expenses paid by the plaintiff.
• Permitting juries to view evidence of a plaintiff avoiding medical insurance coverage through the use of letters of protection, which are typically used to inflate medical bills by avoiding the lower contracted rates in a person’s insurance policy.
• Allowing juries to learn whether a plaintiff’s attorney referred an injured client to a specific medical provider, which would allow juries to decide whether a doctor was incentivized to inflate medical treatment and costs based on his/her relationship with the plaintiff’s attorney.
• Protecting insurers from being liable beyond the policy limits where two or more third-party claimants make competing claims from a single incident, which taken together, would exceed the policy limits.
• Eliminating contingency fee “multipliers”, except in rare circumstances, used to calculate attorney fees on top of a Lodestar fee – a separate formula that determines reasonable attorney fees.
• Providing insurers facing bad faith claims a 90-day safe harbor from the time the insurer receives actual notice of a claim that is accompanied by enough evidence to support the amount of that claim. If the insurer does not take advantage of the safe harbor, then any applicable statute of limitations is extended for an additional 90 days. However, an insurer’s failure to pay under the safe harbor is inadmissible as evidence to establish bad faith.

When Governor DeSantis signs this historic bill into law it should greatly improve balance and fairness in Florida’s civil justice system and reduce the amount of frivolous litigation in the state.

As always, we will continue to report on the positive effects of this legislation and how other states may benefit from similar trends. Please contact us with any questions.