reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
AL Code § 6-5-542 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 6 - Civil Practice.|Chapter 5 - Actions.|Article 29 - Medical Liability Act of 1987.|Section 6-5-542 - Definitions.

Section 6-5-542Definitions. For the purposes of this article, the following terms shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section: (1) HEALTH CARE PROVIDER. A medical practitioner, dental practitioner, medical institution, physician, dentist, hospital, or other health care provider as those terms are defined in Section 6-5-481. (2) STANDARD OF CARE. The standard of care is that level of such reasonable care, skill, and diligence as other similarly situated health care providers in the same general line of practice, ordinarily have and exercise in like cases. A breach of the standard of care is the failure by a health care provider to comply with the standard of care, which failure proximately causes personal injury or wrongful death. This definition applies to all actions for injuries or damages or wrongful death whether in contract or tort and whether based on intentional or unintentional conduct. (3) FUTURE DAMAGES. Damages for future medical treatment, care, or custody, loss of future earnings, future loss of earning capacity, future loss of bodily function, future loss of consortium, or future pain and suffering. (4) PERIODIC PAYMENT. The payment of money or delivery of other property to the judgment creditor at regular intervals. (5) SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE. Substantial evidence is that character of admissible evidence which would convince an unprejudiced thinking mind of the truth of the fact to which the evidence is directed. (Acts 1987, No. 87-189, p. 261, §3.)
AL Code § 6-5-544 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 6 - Civil Practice.|Chapter 5 - Actions.|Article 29 - Medical Liability Act of 1987.|Section 6-5-544 - Recovery of Noneconomic Losses; Limitation of Such Losses; Mistrial if Jury Advised of Limitation.

Section 6-5-544Recovery of noneconomic losses; limitation of such losses; mistrial if jury advised of limitation. (a) In any action for injury whether in contract or in tort against a health care provider based on a breach of the standard of care, the injured plaintiff and spouse upon proper proof may be entitled to recover noneconomic losses to compensate for pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, disfigurement, loss of consortium, and other nonpecuniary damage. (b) In no action shall the amount of recovery for noneconomic losses, including punitive damages, either to the injured plaintiff, the plaintiff's spouse, or other lawful dependents or any of them together exceed the sum of $400,000. Plaintiff shall not seek recovery in any amount greater than the amounts described herein for noneconomic losses. During the trial of any action neither the court nor any party shall advise or infer to the jury that it may not return an award for noneconomic losses in excess of an amount specified herein; in the event the jury is so advised or such inference is made, the trial court, upon motion of an opposing party, shall immediately declare a mistrial. Any verdict returned which includes an award for noneconomic losses in an amount greater than that permitted herein shall be reduced by the trial court to an amount which will include an award of noneconomic losses no greater than that permitted herein or to such lesser sums as the trial court deems appropriate in accordance with prevailing standards for reducing excessive verdicts. (Acts 1987, No. 87-189, p. 261, §5.)
AL Code § 6-5-545 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 6 - Civil Practice.|Chapter 5 - Actions.|Article 29 - Medical Liability Act of 1987.|Section 6-5-545 - Evidence Admissible That Medical Expenses Will Be Reimbursed; Information Subject to Discovery.

Section 6-5-545Evidence admissible that medical expenses will be reimbursed; information subject to discovery. (a) In all actions where damages for any medical or hospital expenses are claimed and are legally recoverable for personal injury or death, evidence that the plaintiff's medical or hospital expenses have been or will be paid or reimbursed shall be admissible as competent evidence. In such actions upon admission of evidence respecting reimbursement or payment of medical or hospital expenses, the plaintiff shall be entitled to introduce evidence of the cost of obtaining reimbursement or payment of medical or hospital expenses. (b) In such civil actions, information respecting such reimbursement or payment obtained or such reimbursement or payment which may be obtained by the plaintiff for medical or hospital expenses shall be subject to discovery. (c) Upon proof by the plaintiff to the court that the plaintiff is obligated to repay the medical or hospital expenses which have been or will be paid or reimbursed, evidence relating to such reimbursement or payment shall be admissible. (Acts 1987, No. 87-189, p. 261, §6.)
AL Code § 6-5-546 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 6 - Civil Practice.|Chapter 5 - Actions.|Article 29 - Medical Liability Act of 1987.|Section 6-5-546 - Venue of Actions; Transfer.

Section 6-5-546Venue of actions; transfer. In any action for injury or damages or wrongful death whether in contract or in tort against a health care provider based on a breach of the standard of care, the action must be brought in the county wherein the act or omission constituting the alleged breach of the standard of care by the defendant actually occurred. If plaintiff alleges that plaintiff's injuries or plaintiff's decedent's death resulted from acts or omissions which took place in more than one county within the State of Alabama, the action must be brought in the county wherein the plaintiff resided at the time of the act or omission, if the action is one for personal injuries, or wherein the plaintiff's decedent resided at the time of the act or omission if the action is one for wrongful death. If at any time prior to the commencement of the trial of the action it is shown that the plaintiff's injuries or plaintiff's decedent's death did not result from acts or omissions which took place in more than one county, on motion of any defendant the court shall transfer the action to such county wherein the alleged acts or omissions actually occurred. For the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice, a court may transfer any action to any other county where it might have been brought hereunder and/or may order a separate trial as to any claim or party. (Acts 1987, No. 87-189, p. 261, §7.)
AL Code § 6-5-547 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 6 - Civil Practice.|Chapter 5 - Actions.|Article 29 - Medical Liability Act of 1987.|Section 6-5-547 - One Million Dollar Limit on Judgments; Mistrial if Jury Advised of Limitation.

Section 6-5-547One million dollar limit on judgments; mistrial if jury advised of limitation. In any action commenced pursuant to Section 6-5-391 or Section 6-5-410, against a health care provider whether in contract or in tort based on a breach of the standard of care the amount of any judgment entered in favor of the plaintiff shall not exceed the sum of $1,000,000. Any verdict returned in any such action which exceeds $1,000,000 shall be reduced to $1,000,000 by the trial court or such lesser sum as the trial court deems appropriate in accordance with prevailing standards for reducing excessive verdicts. During the trial of any action brought pursuant to Section 6-5-391 or 6-5-410 neither the court nor any party shall advise or infer to the jury that it may not return a verdict in excess of $1,000,000; in the event the jury is so advised or such inference is made the court, upon motion of an opposing party, shall immediately declare a mistrial. The maximum amount payable under this section, $1,000,000, shall be adjusted on April fifteenth of each year to reflect any increase or decrease during the preceding calendar year in the Consumer Price Index of the United States Department of Commerce. Said adjustment shall equal the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index during the preceding calendar year. (Acts 1987, No. 87-189, p. 261, §8.)
AL Code § 6-5-549 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 6 - Civil Practice.|Chapter 5 - Actions.|Article 29 - Medical Liability Act of 1987.|Section 6-5-549 - Standard of Proof Shall Be Proof by Substantial Evidence; Scintilla Rule of Evidence Abolished; Instruction to Jury.

Section 6-5-549Standard of proof shall be proof by substantial evidence; scintilla rule of evidence abolished; instruction to jury. In any action for injury or damages or wrongful death, whether in contract or in tort, against a health care provider based on a breach of the standard of care, the minimum standard of proof required to test the sufficiency of the evidence to support any issue of fact shall be proof by substantial evidence. In all such actions, whether arising in tort or in contract, the scintilla rule of evidence is abolished. In all pleadings or motions filed in such actions testing the sufficiency of the evidence to support an issue of fact, including, but not limited to, motions for summary judgment, motions for directed verdict, motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, and any other such motions or pleadings respecting the sufficiency of the evidence, the standard of proof required shall be proof by substantial evidence. In the case of a jury trial, the jury shall be instructed that in order to return a verdict against a health care provider, the jury shall be reasonably satisfied by substantial evidence that the health care provider failed to comply with the standard of care and that such failure probably caused the injury or death in question. (Acts 1987, No. 87-189, p. 261, §10; Acts 1996, No. 96-511, p. 650, §3.)
AL Code § 6-5-550 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 6 - Civil Practice.|Chapter 5 - Actions.|Article 29 - Medical Liability Act of 1987.|Section 6-5-550 - Cause of Action for Malicious Prosecution of Civil Action Against Health Care Provider.

Section 6-5-550Cause of action for malicious prosecution of civil action against health care provider. There is hereby created a cause of action for damages for malicious prosecution on the grounds that the party instituting a civil action for injury or damages whether in contract or in tort against a health care provider based on a breach of the standard of care knew or should have known that the same was without adequate legal basis, or false, or unfounded, or without probable cause in the filing of such action, or that the same was filed as a part of a conspiracy to misuse judicial process by filing such a civil action known to be without legal basis, false, or unfounded. In any action for malicious prosecution under this section, the injured party may recover actual damages including litigation costs paid by or on behalf of the injured party or in the alternative liquidated damages of $500 plus a reasonable attorney's fee and all other costs of litigation. In an action for malicious prosecution under this section, actual malice need not be an element of the claim nor do special damages need to be proved. The elimination of these requirements in permitting the recovery of actual damages or liquidated damages, a reasonable attorney's fee and other costs of litigation is intended to be in derogation of the common law. The cause of action established by this section is not a compulsory counterclaim in the original civil action upon which it is based for the purposes of Rule 13, Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure. (Acts 1987, No. 87-189, p. 261, §11.)
AL Code § 6-5-551 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 6 - Civil Practice.|Chapter 5 - Actions.|Article 29 - Medical Liability Act of 1987.|Section 6-5-551 - Complaint to Detail Circumstances Rendering Provider Liable; Discovery.

Section 6-5-551Complaint to detail circumstances rendering provider liable; discovery. In any action for injury, damages, or wrongful death, whether in contract or in tort, against a health care provider for breach of the standard of care, whether resulting from acts or omissions in providing health care, or the hiring, training, supervision, retention, or termination of care givers, the Alabama Medical Liability Act shall govern the parameters of discovery and all aspects of the action. The plaintiff shall include in the complaint filed in the action a detailed specification and factual description of each act and omission alleged by plaintiff to render the health care provider liable to plaintiff and shall include when feasible and ascertainable the date, time, and place of the act or acts. The plaintiff shall amend his complaint timely upon ascertainment of new or different acts or omissions upon which his claim is based; provided, however, that any such amendment must be made at least 90 days before trial. Any complaint which fails to include such detailed specification and factual description of each act and omission shall be subject to dismissal for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. Any party shall be prohibited from conducting discovery with regard to any other act or omission or from introducing at trial evidence of any other act or omission. (Acts 1987, No. 87-189, p. 261, §12; Act 2000-387, p. 609, §1.)
AL Code § 6-5-552 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 6 - Civil Practice.|Chapter 5 - Actions.|Article 29 - Medical Liability Act of 1987.|Section 6-5-552 - Application.

Section 6-5-552Application. This article applies to all actions against health care providers based on acts or omissions accruing after June 11, 1987, and as to such causes of action, shall supersede any inconsistent provision of law. (Acts 1987, No. 87-189, p. 261, §13.)
AL Code § 6-5-570 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 6 - Civil Practice.|Chapter 5 - Actions.|Article 30 - Legal Service Liability Actions.|Section 6-5-570 - Statement of Legislative Intent.

Section 6-5-570Statement of legislative intent. It is hereby declared by the Legislature of the State of Alabama that a crisis threatens the delivery of legal service to the people of Alabama and that the quality of legal services which should be made available to the citizens of this state is in jeopardy. It is the declared intent of this Legislature to insure that quality legal services continue to be available at reasonable costs to the citizens of the State of Alabama. This Legislature finds and declares that the increasing threat of legal actions against legal service providers contributes to an increase in the cost of legal services and places a heavy burden upon those who can least afford such cost and that the threat of such legal actions contributes to the expense of providing legal services to be performed by legal service providers which otherwise would not be considered necessary, and that the spiraling costs and decreasing availability of essential legal services caused by the threat of such litigation constitutes a danger to the welfare of the citizens of this state, and that this article should be given effect immediately to help control the spiraling cost of legal services and to insure the continued availability of vital legal services. In addition, this Legislature finds that legal service providers are experiencing great and increasing difficulties in obtaining professional liability insurance and that there is a great and rapid increase in the cost of professional liability insurance. This Legislature finds that both the availability and the cost of professional liability insurance is in direct consequence to the threat of legal actions against Alabama legal service providers. It is the intent of the Legislature to establish a comprehensive system governing all legal actions against legal service providers. The Legislature finds that in order to protect the rights and welfare of all Alabama citizens and in order to provide for the fair, orderly, and efficient administration of legal actions against legal service providers in the courts of this state, this article provides a complete and unified approach to legal actions against legal service providers and creates a new and single form of action and cause of action exclusively governing the liability of legal service providers known as a legal service liability action and provides for the time in which a legal service liability action may be brought and maintained is required. (Acts 1988, No. 88-262, p. 406, §1.)
AL Code § 6-5-571 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 6 - Civil Practice.|Chapter 5 - Actions.|Article 30 - Legal Service Liability Actions.|Section 6-5-571 - Short Title.

Section 6-5-571Short title. This article may be cited and known as "The Alabama Legal Services Liability Act." (Acts 1988, No. 88-262, p. 406, §2.)
AL Code § 6-5-573 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 6 - Civil Practice.|Chapter 5 - Actions.|Article 30 - Legal Service Liability Actions.|Section 6-5-573 - Creation of One Form of Action Against Legal Service Providers.

Section 6-5-573Creation of one form of action against legal service providers. There shall be only one form and cause of action against legal service providers in courts in the State of Alabama and it shall be known as the legal service liability action and shall have the meaning as defined herein. (Acts 1988, No. 88-262, p. 406, §4.)
AL Code § 6-5-574 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 6 - Civil Practice.|Chapter 5 - Actions.|Article 30 - Legal Service Liability Actions.|Section 6-5-574 - Limitation on Time for Commencement of Legal Service Liability Action.

Section 6-5-574Limitation on time for commencement of legal service liability action. (a) All legal service liability actions against a legal service provider must be commenced within two years after the act or omission or failure giving rise to the claim, and not afterwards; provided, that if the cause of action is not discovered and could not reasonably have been discovered within such period, then the action may be commenced within six months from the date of such discovery or the date of discovery of facts which would reasonably lead to such discovery, whichever is earlier; provided, further, that in no event may the action be commenced more than four years after such act or omission or failure; except, that an act or omission or failure giving rise to a claim which occurred before August 1, 1987, shall not in any event be barred until the expiration of one year from such date. (b) Subsection (a) of this section shall be subject to all existing provisions of law relating to the computation of statutory periods of limitations for the commencement of actions, namely, Sections 6-2-1, 6-2-2, 6-2-3, 6-2-5, 6-2-6, 6-2-8, 6-2-9, 6-2-10, 6-2-13, 6-2-15, 6-2-16, 6-2-17, 6-2-30, and 6-2-39; provided, that notwithstanding any provisions of such sections, no action shall be commenced more than four years after the act, omission, or failure complained of; except, that in the case of a minor under four years of age, such minor shall have until his or her eighth birthday to commence such action. (Acts 1988, No. 88-262, p. 406, §5.)
AL Code § 6-5-575 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 6 - Civil Practice.|Chapter 5 - Actions.|Article 30 - Legal Service Liability Actions.|Section 6-5-575 - Settlement of Disputes by Voluntary Arbitration.

Section 6-5-575Settlement of disputes by voluntary arbitration. (a) After a legal service provider has rendered services, or failed to render services, to a client out of which a claim has arisen, the parties thereto may agree to settle such dispute by arbitration. Such agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties. Any such agreement shall be valid, binding, irrevocable, and enforceable, save upon such grounds as exist in law or in equity for the revocation of any contract. (b) Pursuant to the provisions of this section, the claimant shall select one competent and disinterested arbitrator, and the party or parties against whom the claim is made shall select one competent and disinterested arbitrator. The two arbitrators so named shall select a third arbitrator, or, if unable to agree thereon within 30 days, then upon request of any party, such third arbitrator shall be selected by a judge of a court of record in the county in which the arbitration is pending. The arbitrators shall then hear and determine the question or questions so in dispute in accordance with the procedural rules established by the American Arbitration Association. The decision in writing of any two arbitrators shall be binding upon all parties. Each party shall pay fees of his own arbitrator, and split the expenses of the third. Arbitration shall be conducted in the county in which the claim arose. A judgment upon the award rendered by the arbitrators may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. (Acts 1988, No. 88-262, p. 406, §6.)
AL Code § 6-5-576 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 6 - Civil Practice.|Chapter 5 - Actions.|Article 30 - Legal Service Liability Actions.|Section 6-5-576 - Advance Payments by Defendant or Insurer Not Admission of Liability; Advance Payments in Excess of Award Not Repayable.

Section 6-5-576Advance payments by defendant or insurer not admission of liability; advance payments in excess of award not repayable. (a) In all legal service liability actions, any advance payment made by the defendant or his insurer to or for the plaintiff, or any other person, may not be construed as an admission of liability for injuries or damages suffered by the plaintiff or anyone else. Evidence of such advance payment is not admissible until there is a final judgment in favor of the plaintiff, in which event the court shall reduce the judgment to the plaintiff to the extent of advance payment. The advance payment shall inure to the exclusive credit of the defendant or his insurer making the payment. In the event the advance payment exceeds the liability of the defendant or the insurer making it, the court shall order any adjustment necessary to equalize the amount which each defendant is obligated to pay, exclusive of costs. (b) In no case shall an advance payment in excess of an award be repayable by the person receiving it. (Acts 1988, No. 88-262, p. 406, §7.)
AL Code § 6-5-577 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 6 - Civil Practice.|Chapter 5 - Actions.|Article 30 - Legal Service Liability Actions.|Section 6-5-577 - Rules of Evidence and Procedures in Civil Actions Preserved.

Section 6-5-577Rules of evidence and procedures in civil actions preserved. All rules of evidence and procedures heretofore in effect in civil actions in the State of Alabama are hereby preserved, unless specifically changed in this article, in all civil actions covered by this article. (Acts 1988, No. 88-262, p. 406, §8.)
AL Code § 6-5-578 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 6 - Civil Practice.|Chapter 5 - Actions.|Article 30 - Legal Service Liability Actions.|Section 6-5-578 - Effect of Compliance or Violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct.

Section 6-5-578Effect of compliance or violation of the rules of professional conduct. (a) Evidence of action taken by a legal service provider in an effort to comply with any provision or any official opinion or interpretation of the rules of professional conduct shall be admissible only in defense of a legal service liability action and the same shall be available as a defense to any legal services liability action. (b) Neither evidence of a charge of a violation of the rules of professional conduct against a legal service provider nor evidence of any action taken in response to such a charge shall be admissible in a legal services liability action and the fact that a legal service provider violated any provision of the rules of professional conduct shall not give rise to an independent cause of action or otherwise be used in support of recovery in a legal services liability action. (Acts 1988, No. 88-262, p. 406, §9.)