Opinion ID: 1696199
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Intent of the Legislature in Passing the LSLA

Text: Before determining the applicable statutory period of limitations in this case, we must first determine the legislature's intent in enacting the LSLA. This Court has stated that in ascertaining legislative intent courts are entitled to consider conditions that may arise under the statutory provisions in question and to examine results that may flow from giving ambiguous language one meaning over another. Studdard v. South Central Bell Tel. Co., 356 So.2d 139 (Ala.1978); Wright v. Turner, 351 So.2d 1 (Ala.1977); League of Women Voters v. Renfro, 292 Ala. 128, 290 So.2d 167 (1974). In regard to the LSLA, there appears to be a conflict between § 6-5-574(a) and § 6-5-581. In § 6-5-574(a), the legislature stated: [E]xcept, 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. (Emphasis added.) In § 6-5-581, the legislature provided: This article applies to all actions against legal service providers based on acts or omissions accruing [occurring?] after April 12, 1988. (Emphasis added.) In Street v. City of Anniston, 381 So.2d 26 (Ala.1980), a medical malpractice case, this Court considered whether the statutory period of limitations in effect at the time the cause of action arose or the statutory period of limitations in effect at the time the action was brought applied. In addressing this issue the Street Court examined Ala.Code 1975, § 6-5-482(a), included as part of the AMLA. That subsection provides: (a) All actions against physicians, surgeons, dentists, medical institutions or other health care providers for liability, error, mistake or failure to cure, whether based on contract or tort, must be commenced within two years next 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; except, that an error, mistake, act, omission or failure to cure giving rise to a claim which occurred before September 23, 1975, shall not in any event be barred until the expiration of one year from such date. (Emphasis added.) In Street, the plaintiff's cause of action accrued [3] on April 15, 1974, when the defendants issued an incorrect pathology report. The plaintiff commenced her action on August 11, 1978, under the AMLA. The defendants moved for summary judgment on several grounds, including the ground that the plaintiff's claims were barred by § 6-5-482(a). In analyzing the question of which statutory period of limitations applied, this Court stated that statutes of limitations are generally viewed as remedial statutes, and that the statute of limitations in effect at the time the suit is filed, as opposed to one in effect at the time of the accrual of the cause of action, has been held to apply unless the later statute clearly states the contrary. 381 So.2d at 29. See also Watson v. Trail Pontiac, Inc., 508 So.2d 262 (Ala.1987). In determining the legislative intent behind § 6-5-482(a), this Court stated: [I]f Code 1975, § 6-5-482, were not intended to shorten the period for bringing an already existing cause of action, the one-year grace period would be unnecessary, for it is only where a newly enacted statute of limitations is intended to apply to causes of action existing at the time of its enactment that a reasonable period of time after enactment must be allowed within which such action may be brought. In recognition of this, some states have adopted a rule that a statute of limitations which permits a reasonable time in which existing causes of action may be sued on [is] deemed retroactive. Therefore, because Code 1975, § 6-5-482(a), was intended by the legislature to limit the time within which causes of action existing at the time of its enactment could be brought to four years, or one year from enactment, whichever is greater, plaintiffs' suits are barred. 381 So.2d at 30. We believe that the Court in Street was correct in determining that the legislature intended that § 6-5-482(a) replace the prior medical malpractice act, Title 7, § 25(1), Code 1940, and apply retrospectively. Although the Court in Street addressed only the issue whether the exception language in § 6-5-482(a), language similar to the exception language in § 6-5-574(a), was retrospective or prospective, the case is instructive. [4] We agree that such language, without more, indicates the legislature's intent that the legislation including that language apply retrospectively. Nevertheless, the inclusion of § 6-5-581 in the LSLA is, to the contrary, evidence that the legislature intended the LSLA to apply prospectively. As stated in N. Singer, 1A Sutherland Statutory Construction § 20.24, at 110 (4th Ed.): The presence or absence of an express provision designating the date on which an act is to take effect may influence decision as to whether the act operates retrospectively or only prospectively. Thus it has been held that `an Act which fixes a future day as its effective date stamps its prospective character on its face.' See also Street v. City of Anniston, 381 So.2d at 29; Webster v. Talley, 251 Ala. 336, 37 So.2d 190 (1948); Sills v. Sills, 246 Ala. 165, 19 So.2d 521 (1944); Harlan v. State, 31 Ala.App. 478, 18 So.2d 744 (1947). If this Court were to view the exception portion of § 6-5-574(a) in the LSLA without reference to § 6-5-581, Street would control and we would hold that the legislature clearly intended the LSLA to apply retrospectively. However, we are confronted with an act that contains a separate provision indicating that the LSLA is to apply prospectively, § 6-5-581. Both provisions are specific, and each indicates a different legislative intention. Because there is an ambiguity created by the legislature in the LSLA, we must delve further into what the legislature intended in passing this Act. The general rule of statutory construction is that effect should be given, if possible, to each word and each section of the statute being construed. See Alabama State Board of Health ex rel. Baxley v. Chambers County, 335 So.2d 653 (Ala. 1976); In re Ashworth, 291 Ala. 723, 287 So.2d 843 (1974). If we were to construe the language in § 6-5-574(a) as controlling, we would essentially nullify § 6-5-581. Conversely, if we were to construe the language in § 6-5-581 as controlling, we would nullify the exception language contained in § 6-5-574(a). Clearly, neither result is what the legislature intended in enacting the LSLA, and it is this Court's duty to give effect to both irreconcilable provisions if such a construction is reasonable. Reid v. City of Birmingham, 274 Ala. 629, 150 So.2d 735 (1963). To determine the legislature's intent in passing the LSLA, we must look beyond the language contained in the LSLA. To do this, we compare the LSLA with the AMLA and the 1987 Act. [5] In comparing the exception language in § 6-5-574(a) in the LSLA to the similar language contained in § 6-5-482(a) of the AMLA, we note that in the AMLA the legislature provided that an error, mistake, act, omission or failure to cure giving rise to a cause of action which occurs before the effective date of this act shall not in any event be barred until the expiration of one year from the effective date of this act. See Ala. Acts 1975, Act No. 513, p. 1150-51, § 4. The effective date of the AMLA was September 23, 1975; therefore, any potential plaintiff with a cause of action accruing before September 23, 1975, was given until September 23, 1976, before his or her claim was barred under the shorter statute of limitations period. Thus, this provision served its purpose as a saving provision for causes of actions that had accrued before the AMLA was passed. Also, the one-year period was reasonable. Street v. City of Anniston, 381 So.2d 26 (Ala.1980). See also Reese v. Rankin Fite Memorial Hosp., 403 So.2d 158, 163 (Ala. 1981) (Jones, J., concurring) (in viewing changes in statutes of limitations, the validity of any changes is subject only to the test of reasonableness). In United States Veterans Administration v. Walker, 356 So.2d 631 (Ala.1978), a medical malpractice case, this Court interpreted the language except that an error, mistake, act, omission or failure to cure giving rise to a cause of action which occurs before the effective date of this article shall not in any event be barred until the expiration of one year from the effective date of this article in § 6-5-482(a) of the AMLA. In Walker, this Court stated: Unquestionably, the [plaintiff's] alleged cause of action existed on the effective date of the Alabama Medical Liability Act. If [Code 1940, title 7,] Section 25(1) [the prior statute of limitations] is applicable as the [defendant] urges, the [plaintiff's] cause of action was barred. The [plaintiff] contends that the portion of § 176(10) [the AMLA] which we have emphasized tolled the running of the statute until September 23, 1976, and since his action was filed on August 6, 1976, it was timely. The [defendant] takes the position that even if the emphasized portion of § 176(10) applied, it would apply only to `undiscovered' causes of action. The [plaintiff] argues that the phrase `in any event' shows that the legislature intended to extend the limitation period for an additional year for both discovered and undiscovered malpractice actions, which had not expired on September 23, 1975, the effective date of § 176(10). We agree with the [plaintiff]. Id. at 633. The Court in Walker concluded: We are of the opinion that the intent of the legislature was to extend the limitation period for both discovered and undiscovered actions which occurred before the effective date of the Act (September 23, 1975) for one year after the effective date of the Act. Id. at 634. In regard to the LSLA, however, the legislature stated: [A]n 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. Ala.Acts 1988, Act No. 88-262, p. 408-09, § 5(1). The effective date of the LSLA was April 12, 1988. Reading these two dates together, one would conclude that a potential plaintiff with a claim that accrued before August 1, 1987, is given until August 1, 1988, to bring an action. If the effective date of the LSLA had been August 1, 1987, then this one-year provision would serve its purpose as a saving provision for causes of action accruing before August 1, 1987. See Reese v. Rankin Fite Memorial Hosp., 403 So.2d 158 (Ala.1981) (Jones, J., concurring); Street v. City of Anniston, 381 So.2d 26 (Ala.1980). However, the actual period provided by the legislature, i.e., the period between April 12, 1988, and August 1, 1988, provides a potential plaintiff whose claim accrued before August 1, 1987, approximately three and one-half months from April 12, 1988, the effective date of the LSLA, to bring an action before being barred under the new two-year statute of limitations. This period of time is unreasonable. This could not logically be the result intended by the legislature in enacting the LSLA. In Musgrove v. United States Pipe & Foundry Co., 290 Ala. 156, 274 So.2d 640 (1972), on remand, 274 So.2d 644 (1973), overruled on other grounds, Tetter v. State, 358 So.2d 1046 (Ala.1978), this Court stated that where the legislature in a new statute uses language that has previously been construed by the judiciary, the construction given in a prior decision must be accepted as part of the statute. In addition, this Court may examine any prior statutes or other laws that deal with the same subject in clarifying the legislature's intent. See Board of Dental Examiners v. King, 364 So.2d 311 (Ala.Civ.App.1977), reversed on other grounds, 364 So.2d 318 (Ala.1978). To prevent finding a statute unconstitutional, this Court has stated: There are occasions when courts must correct or ignore or supply obvious inadvertences in order to give a law the effect which was plainly intended by the legislature.... Hamilton v. Smith, 264 Ala. 199, 201, 86 So.2d 283, 285 (1956). Additionally: An obvious error in the language of a statute is self-correcting. State Farm Automobile Insurance Co. v. Reaves, 292 Ala. 218, 292 So.2d 95 (1975). In such an instance, the Court may substitute the correct word when it can be ascertained from the context of the act. C. Sands, 2A Sutherland Statutes and Statutory Construction § 47.36 (1973). Guy H. James Constr. Co. v. Boswell, 366 So.2d 271, 273 (Ala.1979). Because the LSLA is clearly modeled after the AMLA and the 1987 Act, we conclude that the legislature intended § 6-5-574(a) to apply to a cause of action that accrued before the effective date of the LSLA and that such an action would not in any event be barred until the expiration of one year from that effective date. That is, a cause of action that accrued before April 12, 1988, shall not in any event be barred until the expiration of one year from that date. Compare Ala.Acts 1975, Act No. 513, p. 1150-51, § 4. This one-year saving provision provides a reasonable time for a party with a cause of action accruing before the effective date of the LSLA, April 12, 1988, to bring a claim. If we were to construe literally the language in § 6-5-574(a) with the language in § 6-5-581, we would have only a three-and-one-half-month saving provision. This would be unreasonable, especially in light of the time provided in the AMLA for similarly situated plaintiffs. [6] Under this construction of the LSLA, we follow the rationale set forth in Street v. City of Anniston, supra , whereby a statute of limitations, which is generally viewed as remedial, is to apply retrospectively. This means that the statute of limitations in effect at the time the suit is filed, as opposed to the one in effect at the time of the accrual of the cause of action, applies. From the foregoing analysis we conclude that the legislature, in enacting the LSLA, a traditional statute of limitations, intended to shorten the time period for bringing an already existing cause of action and that it intended to provide a one-year saving provision, that one year to run from the effective date of the LSLA for all causes of actions accruing before April 12, 1988.