Court Opinion

ID: 9723521
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 10:18:28.208322+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:49.317953
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE HEIPLE, dissenting: The Contribution Among Joint Tortfeasors Act (the Act) provides that a joint tortfeasor who settles with a claimant may recover from the other joint tortfeasor to the extent that he has paid more than his pro rata share of the common liability. Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 70, par. 302. How does this work in practice? Assume that a blameless person has been injured by two joint tortfeasors to the tune of $100. Assume further that each tortfeasor was 50% at fault. Assume further that the blameless person has settled the $100 claim in full with one of the tortfeasors. The Act permits the tortfeasor who was 50% at fault but who paid the entire claim to recover 50% ($50) from the other joint tortfeasor. The Act is plausible enough and replaced the former system where each tortfeasor was both jointly and severally liable, could be targeted for the entire loss, and had no possibility of recovery from other tortfeasors whose culpable conduct contributed to the loss. From a sound premise, however, which was grounded in concepts of fairness and equity, new legalisms have arisen which introduce the possibilities of wholly new elements of unfairness. Observe the instant case. One joint tortfeasor has settled and now wants to recover a claimed pro rata share of the settlement which was paid. Tortfeasor number two wants his day in court. He was not a party to the settlement and claims the right to litigate (1) whether the amount paid was correct, and (2) what extent his fault, if any, bears to the amount of total fault causing the loss. The trial court ruled that the amount of the damages (item number one) could be litigated in the contribution proceeding. That is to say, was the amount correct? Tortfeasor number one took an interlocutory appeal to this court claiming that only the degree of culpability (item number two) could be litigated; that a “good-faith” settlement placed item number one beyond the pale. A majority of this court agrees. I respectfully but strongly dissent. The issue here is not whether the settlement was in good faith or not. That is wholly beside the point. The issue is whether the settlement figure was correct. Perhaps the settlement figure should have been higher. Perhaps lower. Unless tortfeasor two is allowed to litigate that matter, the answer will never be known. Moreover, unless tortfeasor two is allowed to litigate that point, he will be denied his constitutional right to both procedural and substantive due process of law. U.S. Const., amend. XIV; Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, §2. It should be obvious that a settlement may be in “good faith” but still be light years away from the mark. Many factors impinge on settlement negotiations. For instance, there is the question of the limits of insurance coverage and the ability to pay. Large exposure will cause an insurance company to place a higher value on a claim than if the limits were lower. If it could be assumed objectively that a claim was worth $100 and the insurance coverage was a million dollars, the insurance company might consider the potential exposure so serious as to induce a settlement for substantially more than $100, perhaps even multiples of that figure. On the other hand, if the coverage was $100, the company might offer $98.50. The claimant then would have the option of litigating to recover an additional $1.50 or to settle for 98.5% of the limits of liability. Personal injury settlements and trials always involve more unknowns than knowns. No one can say with certitude what a broken limb, a lost eye, or a disfigurement are worth. It depends. So too does liability. It depends. The variables are unlimited. Returning to my $100 claim illustration. If the claim was, in fact, worth $200 and if tortfeasor one was 50% at fault, then, given a $100 settlement, tortfeasor two should pay nothing. That is because tortfeasor one, in such case, paid only his fair share. That is to say, tortfeasor one was 50% at fault and paid $100 on a $200 loss. That is exactly what tortfeasor one should have paid. Tortfeasor two owes him nothing. Likewise, if the $100 claim was, in fact, only worth $10, tortfeasor one, in making a settlement for $100, has overpaid the claim by $90. He has paid 10 times what the claim was objectively worth. He may even have done so in good faith. If tortfeasor two was 50% at fault, should he be required to contribute $50 towards the settlement of a claim which was only worth $10? Certainly not. Tortfeasor two should not be required to contribute more than 50% of the fair value of the claim. That is to say, $5. Once again, finally, and most importantly, it must be noted that the overriding principle here is that of due process of law. Strangers should not be able, by agreement or otherwise, to deprive a third party of his day in court. Accordingly, I dissent.