Court Opinion

ID: 9678844
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 06:33:52.429117+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:08.403701
License: Public Domain

RICKHOFF, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent as to the majority’s allocation of the settlement credit. The appellants elected to have the settlement credit calculated in accordance with the first option ... “the sum of the dollar amount of the settlements.” The disagreement is with the manner in which the settlement credit should have been applied. As in Gem Homes, Inc. v. Contreras, 861 S.W.2d 449 (Tex.App.—El Paso 1993, writ denied), the appellants argue that the trial court should have allocated the total amount of the settlement credit based on each appellee’s percentage of the total jury verdict. See Gem Homes, 861 S.W.2d at 460. The appellees, on the other hand, argue that the trial court correctly allocated the settlement credit based on the settlement proceeds actually received by each appellee.
In C & H Nationwide, Inc. v. Thompson, the Texas Supreme Court provided some insight as to the manner in which a settlement credit equal to the “sum of the dollar amount of all settlements” should be applied to reduce an actual jury verdict. 903 S.W.2d 315 (Tex.1994). In that case, the total amount of the plaintiffs’ damages awarded by the jury, plus stipulated funeral expenses, was $8,205,-702.35. Id. at 317. All three defendants elected to have the damages reduced by the “sum of the dollar amount of all settlements” in accordance with Tex. Civ. PRAC. & Rem. *216Code § 33.012(b)(1). Id. at 318. Accordingly, the Texas Supreme Court noted that the plaintiffs’ damages were reduced by the $6 million the plaintiffs received from two of the defendants. Id. Thus, the Texas Supreme Court tacitly approved the trial court’s computation of judgment damages by subtracting the total amount of the settlement credit from the total amount of the damages awarded by the jury. See id. at 318-19. The manner in which the judgment damages were then allocated among the plaintiffs, however, is unclear from the decision in C & H Nationwide.
This implied reasoning in C & H Nationwide is consistent with the statutory definition of claimant contained in Chapter 33 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code § 33.011(1) (Vernon Supp.1996). In an action where a party seeks recovery of damages for injury to another person, the term “claimant” is defined to include both the injured person and any party seeking recovery of damages for the injury to that person. Tex. Civ. PRAC. & Rem.Code § 33.011(1) (Vernon Supp.1996). This definition cannot be ignored. We are bound to give it proper consideration in interpreting § 33.012(b) wherein the term appears. See Tijerina v. City of Tyler, 846 S.W.2d 825, 827 (Tex.1992) (statutory definitions must be given effect); Black v. American Bankers Ins. Co., 478 S.W.2d 434, 437 (Tex.1972) (entire act must be construed together); see also Tex. Gov’t.Code Ann. § 311.011(b) (Vernon 1988) (words and phrases shall be construed in accordance with legislative definitions).1 Thus, in the instant case, the term “claimant” as used in § 33.012(b) means all of the appellants because they are all seeking recovery of damages for the injury to Flores. The “sum of the dollar amounts of all settlements,” therefore, is the total amount paid by Amoco, and that amount should be the credit by which the damages of the appellants as “claimant” should be reduced.
Although not addressed in C & H Nationwide, we conclude that after making the appropriate reduction, the total judgment damages should then be allocated among the appellants based on their respective percentage of the total jury verdict award in order to give effect to the jury verdict. This computation would then reflect the obvious intent of the legislature and the jury’s judgment on the evidence.
Appellants’ fifth point of error should be sustained, and the judgment reversed and ordered reformed to reflect judgment damages computed in accordance with this straightforward reading of the statutory definition.

. In an effort to ascertain the legislative intent behind the amendment to § 33.011(1) adopting the expanded definition of "claimant,” we obtained a transcript of the committee and senate debate regarding the adoption of senate bill 5. Debate on Tex. S.B. 5 before the Senate Committee of the Whole, 70th Leg., tape 2, R.S. 40-43 (June 2, 1987) (transcript available from Senate Staff Services Office). The debate only included an example of the application of § 33.012(b) where one plaintiff sued three defendants and settled with one defendant. Id. Therefore, the debate did not aid in the resolution of the issue in the instant case.