Opinion ID: 1130765
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Propriety of Separate Trials

Text: Borg-Warner claims that AS 09.17.080 (1986) requires a single trier of fact to make a single allocation of comparative fault among all parties. [8] We disagree. At the time of the accident, AS 09.17.080 provided: (a) In all actions involving fault of more than one party to the action, including third-party defendants and persons who have been released under AS 09.17.090, the court, unless otherwise agreed by all parties, shall instruct the jury to answer special interrogatories or, if there is no jury, shall make findings, indicating (1) the amount of damages each claimant would be entitled to recover if contributory fault is disregarded; and (2) the percentage of the total fault of all of the parties to each claim that is allocated to each claimant, defendant, third-party defendant, and person who has been released from liability under AS 09.17.090. (b) In determining the percentages of fault, the trier of fact shall consider both the nature of the conduct of each party at fault, and the extent of the causal relation between the conduct and the damages claimed. The trier of fact may determine that two or more persons are to be treated as a single party if their conduct was a cause of the damages claimed and the separate act or omission of each person cannot be distinguished. (c) The court shall determine the award of damages to each claimant in accordance with the findings, subject to a reduction under AS 09.17.090, and enter judgment against each party liable. The court also shall determine and state in the judgment each party's equitable share of the obligation to each claimant in accordance with the respective percentages of fault. (d) The court shall enter judgment against each party liable on the basis of joint and several liability, except that a party who is allocated less than 50 percent of the total fault allocated to all the parties may not be jointly liable for more than twice the percentage of fault allocated to that party. [9] Although a single trial allocating fault among all potentially liable parties may promote judicial economy, nothing in the legislative history of AS 09.17.080 indicates that the legislature intended to require a single trial for first- and third-party claims. In our opinion, the traditional two-step system of first establishing liability and then seeking contribution is not inconsistent with the comparative negligence principles underlying the Tort Reform Act. Although one complete and comprehensive hearing is preferable where complex issues are intertwined, see Shanley v. Callanan Indus., Inc., 54 N.Y.2d 52, 444 N.Y.S.2d 585, 588, 429 N.E.2d 104, 107 (1981), in certain circumstances a separate trial allocating fault among first- and third-party defendants is appropriate. [10] Alaska Civil Rule 42(b) provides that a trial judge may order a separate trial of third-party claims in furtherance of convenience or to avoid prejudice, or when separate trials will be conducive to expedition and economy. In this case, Borg-Warner did not seek to join the third-party defendants until approximately three months before the scheduled trial date. Given the need for additional discovery, there is a strong probability that ordering a single trial in this case would have significantly delayed the Swanson trial. We therefore conclude that Judge Hodges did not abuse his discretion in ordering separate trials.