Source: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=sb215%20intr.htm&yr=2014&sesstype=RS&i=215
Timestamp: 2017-12-16 10:56:34
Document Index: 125248492

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(By Senators M. Hall, Carmichael and Cole)
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new chapter, designated §55A-1-1, §55A-1-2, §55A-1-3, §55A-1-4, §55A-2-1, §55A-2-2, §55A-2-3, §55A-2-4, §55A-2-5, §55A-2-6, §55A-2-7, §55A-2-8, §55A-2-9, §55A-3-1, §55A-3-2, §55A-4-1, §55A-4-2, §55A-4-3, §55A-4-4, §55A-4-5, §55A-4-6, §55A-5-1, §55A-5-2, §55A-5-3, §55A-5-4, §55A-5-5, §55A-5-6, §55A-5-7, §55A-5-8, §55A-6-1, §55A-6-2, §55A-6-3, §55A-6-4, §55A-6-5, §55A-7-1, §55A-7-2, §55A-7-3, §55A-7-4, §55A-7-5, §55A-7-6, §55A-7-7, §55A-7-8, §55A-8-1, §55A-8-2, §55A-9-1, §55A-9-2, §55A-10-1, §55A-10-2, §55A-10-3, §55A-11-1, §55A-11-2, §55A-11-3, §55A-11-4, §55A-11-5, §55A-11-6, §55A-11-7, §55A-11-8, §55A-11-9, §55A-11-10, §55A-11-11, §55A-11-12, §55A-12-1, §55A-12-2, §55A-12-3, §55A-12-4, §55A-12-5 and §55A-12-6, all relating to reforming the civil justice system; limiting the amount of recoverable damages; authorizing a new court to be known as the Intermediate Court of Appeals; requiring the court to be operational by January 1, 2016; establishing northern and southern districts; providing three judges for each district; providing a short title; stating legislative findings; excepting certain actions; defining terms; establishing qualifications for judges; establishing jurisdiction of the court; providing for review; providing that Supreme Court will either keep the appeal or transfer it to the Intermediate Court; providing that appeals in certain administrative cases are discretionary; authorizing appeals from Intermediate Court to the Supreme Court; authorizing Governor to make initial appointments by July 1, 2015; creating staggered terms; providing for elections for ten-year terms after initial appointments; authorizing a Chief Judge of the Intermediate Court; authorizing staff for the court and the judges; providing for compensation and expenses of judges and staff; providing for temporary assignment of circuit court judges; authorizing the Supreme Court to provide the facilities, furniture, fixtures and equipment for the Intermediate Court; establishing precedential effect of Intermediate Court orders and decisions; providing that the budget of the Intermediate Court will be part of the Supreme Court budget; prohibiting medical monitoring relief absent manifest present injury or disease caused by a defendant; providing for venue reform; relating to the application of the doctrine of forum non conveniens when civil actions have both a resident and nonresident plaintiff; providing for parties to make a motion that a case would more properly be heard in a forum outside this state; providing for statute of limitations expiring in the alternative forum while the claim is pending in this state; providing for proper dismissal of an action for forum non conveniens purposes; providing for application to class representatives; requiring courts granting motions to stay or dismissal actions for forum nonconveniens purposes to set forth specific findings of fact and conclusions of law; providing standards to determine the competency of expert witnesses; providing standards for opinion testimony by lay witnesses; providing standards of admission for expert witness testimony; requiring a basis for expert witness testimony; barring certain types of expert witness testimony; mandating pretrial hearings and disclosures of expert testimony; providing for the interpretation of the competency of expert witnesses; establishing a standard of review; establishing when punitive damages may be recovered; providing maximum amounts which may be awarded on multiple punitive damages awards for the same course of conduct; providing for the bifurcation of a civil action in which punitive damages are sought when requested by a defendant; stating the conditions under which punitive damages may be assessed against a principal or employer for an act of an agent or employee and against an association, limited liability entity or partnership for the acts of a member or partner; predicating actions for damages upon principles of comparative fault; establishing the comparative fault standard; abolishing joint liability and implementing several liability; establishing how to consider the fault of nonparties; establishing how to consider the fault of, and the amounts paid by, settling parties; providing for the use of special interrogatories; clarifying fault may be imputed to another person who was acting as an agent or servant of another; allowing the assessment of a percentage of fault for failing to take reasonable precautionary measures that were available; precluding the allocation of fault to a person such as a seller, distributor or installer on a strict product liability theory where that person did not contribute to the alleged defect; providing for the burden of proof and limitations; providing for immunity of premises owners from civil liability in certain circumstances; reducing damage awards by collateral source payments; providing how damage reductions shall be determined; stating the effects of such determinations upon the trial; providing a “losers pay” provision; providing a statute of repose; establishing a general eighteen-year warranty for products’ liability actions and an exception for cases where there is an express warranty for more than eighteen years; providing that noneconomic damages are recoverable in actions where damages were authorized at the time this bill became law; providing maximum amounts that may be recovered for noneconomic losses based on physical injury and nonphysical injury; providing for costs by a nonprevailing party; establishing a procedure for recovery of attorney’s fees; providing courts may take judicial notice of the usual and customary attorney’s fees; providing for the liability of attorneys; providing for the applicability of other law; requiring the West Virginia Supreme Court adopt rules to implement this chapter; providing for repeal of conflicting laws; providing for applicability and severability of this chapter; clarifying no additional cause of action is created by this chapter; and providing this chapter becomes effective immediately upon passage by the Legislature and approval by the Governor.
This chapter shall be known as and may be cited as the “Civil Justice Reform Act of 2014.”
(c) The Legislature further finds and declares that there exists, for the foregoing reasons, clear social and economic problems associated with our civil justice system and a need to correct those problems by restoring rationality, certainty, and fairness to the civil justice system through the enactment of the Civil Justice Reform Act of 2014.
“Actual malice” means specific intent to cause personal injury, death, or damage to the property or the reputation of another.
“Agent” means a person who is authorized to act for another through employment by contract or apparent authority.
“Clear and convincing evidence” means that the evidence presented by a party during the trial is more highly probable to be true than not and the jury or judge has a firm belief or conviction the evidence proves the issue for which it is asserted.
“Collateral source” means the United States Social Security Act; any state or federal disability, workers' compensation, or other act designed to provide income replacement, medical, or other benefits; any accident, health or sickness, income or wage replacement insurance, income disability insurance, casualty or property insurance including automobile and homeowners' insurance, or any other insurance except life insurance; any contract or agreement of any group, organization, partnership, or corporation to provide, pay for, or reimburse the cost of medical, hospital, dental, or other health care services or provide similar benefits; or any contractual or voluntary wage continuation plan provided by an employer or otherwise, or any other system intended to provide wages during a period of disability.
“Collateral source payments” means money paid or payable by collateral sources for losses or expenses, including, but not limited to, property damage, wage loss, medical costs, rehabilitation costs, services, and other costs incurred by or on behalf of a plaintiff for which that plaintiff is claiming recovery through a tort action commenced in any of the courts in this state.
“Comparative fault” means the degree to which the fault of a person was a proximate cause of an alleged personal injury or death or damage to property, expressed as a percentage.
“Compensatory damages” means money awarded to compensate a plaintiff for economic and noneconomic loss.
“Conscious, reckless, and outrageous indifference to the health, safety, and welfare of others” means an act or omission which when viewed objectively from the standpoint of the defendant at the time of its occurrence involves an extreme degree of risk, considering the probability and magnitude of the potential harm to others, and of which the defendant has actual, subjective awareness of the risk involved, but nevertheless proceeds with conscious disregard of the rights, safety or welfare of others.
“Damage” or “damages” means all claims under common law or statutory and equitable causes of action for actual damages, including economic and noneconomic damages, and additional damages, including knowing damages, punitive damages, treble damages, penalties, prejudgment interest, postjudgment interest, attorney's fees, litigation costs, costs of court, and all other damages of any kind.
“Defendant” means, for purposes of determining an obligation to pay money to another under this chapter, any person against whom a claim is asserted by a plaintiff including a counterdefendant, cross-defendant or third-party defendant.
“Durable good” means any product, or any component of any such product, which:
“Economic loss” means objectively verifiable monetary losses, such as medical expenses, loss of earnings and earning capacity, cost of replacement services, loss of income stream due to death, burial costs, loss of business or employment opportunities, lost profits, and loss due to property destruction or damage, to the extent recovery for that monetary loss is allowed under any present applicable state law.
“Employer” means a person who controls and directs a worker under an express or implied contract of employment and pays, or is obligated to pay, him or her salary or wages in compensation. Employer includes, but is not limited to, a parent, subsidiary, affiliate, division, or department of the employer. If the employer is an individual, the individual shall be considered an employer under this chapter only if the subject of the tort action is related to the individual's capacity as an employer.
“Fault” means an act or omission of a person which is a proximate cause of injury or death to another person or persons, damage to property, or economic injury, including, but not limited to, negligence, malpractice, medical professional liability, strict product liability, absolute liability, liability under section two, article four, chapter twenty-three of this code, or assumption of the risk.
“Large employer” means an employer who employs more than twenty-five persons on a full-time permanent basis, or its equivalent, or has annual revenues of more than $5 million.
“Legal resident” means an individual who is a resident of West Virginia at the time the cause of action arose or at the time the action is filed without regard to the individual's country of citizenship or national origin. The term does not include an individual who adopts a residence in this state in bad faith for purposes of avoiding the application of this chapter.
“Natural person” means a human being that has the capacity for rights and duties.
“Noneconomic loss” means subjective, nonmonetary losses, such as pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of society and companionship, loss of consortium, injury to reputation, and humiliation, to the extent recovery for any nonmonetary loss is allowed under any present, applicable state law.
“Person” means any individual, corporation, trust, company, incorporated or unincorporated association, firm, partnership, society, joint stock company, business entity, and any agency, unit or instrumentality of federal, state or local government.
“Physical injury” means an actual injury to the body proximately caused by the act complained of and does not include physical symptoms of the mental anguish or emotional distress for which recovery is sought when the symptoms are caused by, rather than the cause of, the pain, distress, or other mental suffering.
“Plaintiff” means, for purposes of determining a right to recover under this chapter, any person asserting a claim.
“Product” means any object, substance, mixture, or raw material in a gaseous, liquid, or solid state: (A) Which is capable of delivery itself or as an assembled whole, in a mixed or combined state, or as a component part or ingredient; (B) which is produced for introduction into trade or commerce; (C) which has intrinsic economic value; and (D) which is intended for sale or lease for commercial or personal use.
“Product liability action” means a civil action brought against any defendant, including defendants who did not manufacture or sell a product, on any theory for damage caused by a product.
(a) In accordance with section one, article VIII of the West Virginia Constitution, the “West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals” is created. The court shall be established and operable on or before January 1, 2016. The West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals “Intermediate Court” shall be divided into two districts. The two intermediate courts of appeals shall be designated as "Intermediate Court, Northern District” or “Northern District” and "Intermediate Court, Southern District" or “Southern District.” Each court shall be located in the district it serves. The Intermediate Court is a court of record and shall issue, as appropriate in each appeal, written opinions, orders and decisions.
(b) Petitions for appeal shall be filed with the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals (“Supreme Court”). Those cases for which the Supreme Court elects not to grant petitions for appeal shall be transferred to the Intermediate Court.
(c) The Intermediate Court has jurisdiction to hear appeals from final judgments or orders entered by a circuit court in any civil or criminal case, appeals from the Workers’ Compensation Board of Review and the Public Service Commission.
(1) Appeals from the Workers’ Compensation Board of Review established by section eleven, article five, chapter twenty-three of this code;
(a) There shall be three judges for each district of the Intermediate Court. The Governor shall, on or before July 1, 2015, appoint the initial judges from names submitted by the Judicial Vacancy Advisory Committee established pursuant to section three-a, article ten, chapter three of the West Virginia Code. The committee shall recommend three qualified nominees for each position for Intermediate Court judge. If the Governor does not select a nominee for the position of judge from the names provided by the committee, he or she shall notify the committee of that circumstance and the committee shall provide additional names for consideration by the Governor.
In any civil action if a court of this state, upon a timely written motion of a party, finds that in the interest of justice and for the convenience of the parties a claim or action would be more properly heard in a forum outside this state, the court shall decline to exercise jurisdiction under the doctrine of forum non conveniens and shall stay or dismiss the claim or action or dismiss any plaintiff. The plaintiff’s choice of a forum is entitled to great deference but this preference may be diminished when the plaintiff is a nonresident and the cause of action did not arise in this state. In determining whether to grant a motion to stay or dismiss an action or dismiss a plaintiff under the doctrine of forum nonconveniens, the court shall consider:
If a witness is not testifying as an expert, the testimony of that witness in the forms of opinions or inferences is limited to those opinions or inferences that are: (1) Rationally based on the perception of the witness; (2) helpful to a clear understanding of the witness’ testimony or the determination of a fact in issue; and (3) not based on scientific, technical or other specialized knowledge within the scope of section two of this article.
(b) An expert witness may receive a reasonable and customary fee for the rendering of professional services provided that the testimony of an expert witness may not be admitted if any of the compensation is contingent on the outcome of any claim or case with respect to which the testimony is being offered.
If the witness is testifying as an expert, then upon motion of a party, the court shall hold a pretrial hearing to determine whether the witness qualifies as an expert and whether the expert’s testimony satisfies the requirements of sections two, three and four of this article. The court shall allow sufficient time for a hearing and shall rule on the qualifications of the witness to testify as an expert and whether or not the testimony satisfies the requirements of sections two, three and four of this article. The hearing and ruling shall be completed no later than the final pretrial conference pursuant to Rule 16(d) of the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure. The trial court’s ruling shall set forth the findings of fact and conclusions of law upon which the order to admit or exclude expert evidence is based.
(a) In any action for damages, the liability of each defendant for compensatory damages is several only and is not joint. Each defendant shall be liable only for the amount of compensatory damages allocated to that defendant in direct proportion to that defendant's percentage of fault and a separate judgment shall be rendered against the defendant for that amount. The fault allocated under this subsection to an immune defendant or a defendant whose liability is limited by law may not be allocated to any other defendant.
(b) A plaintiff who has received, or is to receive, collateral source payments may introduce evidence before the court, but not at trial, of any amount which the plaintiff has paid or contributed to secure his or her right to any such collateral source payments, any recovery by the plaintiff is subject to a lien by a collateral source, that a provider of the collateral source payments has a statutory right of recovery against the plaintiff for reimbursement of the payments or that the provider of the collateral source payments has a right of subrogation to the rights of the plaintiff. After considering the evidence of collateral source introduced by any party, the court shall make a determination as to the amount by which a plaintiff's compensatory damages will be reduced by any such collateral source payments.
No product liability action concerning a durable good as defined in section four, article one of this chapter may be filed after the eighteen-year period beginning at the time of delivery of the product to the first purchaser or lessee.
(1) A party is entitled to recover litigation costs under section ten of this article;
(a) The Supreme Court shall adopt rules to implement this chapter not later than January 1, 2015.