Litigation Alert
Assembly Bill 75: The Proposed Revisions to Wisconsin’s Contributory Negligence Statute Will Be Bad for Businesses
Currently pending before the Joint Committee on Finance is Assembly Bill 75 (“A.B. 75â€), which was introduced at the request of Governor Doyle. A.B. 75 contains a provision that proposes to amend Wisconsin Statute § 895.045, Wisconsin’s joint and several liability and comparative negligence statute. A.B. 75’s practical effect will be to expand the liability exposure of defendants in civil lawsuits; most often businesses defending against tort claims. A.B. 75 will: (1) change the current joint and several liability provisions; (2) lower the bar to recovery; and (3) require courts to instruct juries on the effect of awards and liabilities.
Changes to Joint and Several Liability
Under Wisconsin’s current law, a defendant is jointly and severally liable for the plaintiff’s damages (that is, all of the plaintiff’s adjudged damages) if the defendant’s negligence is found to be 51% or more. Under A.B. 75, a defendant will be jointly and severally liable for all the plaintiff’s damages if the defendant’s negligence is found to be equal to or greater than the plaintiff’s. Thus, a defendant found to be only 1% negligent could bear responsibility for 100% of the damages if the plaintiff’s negligence was also 1% (or lower). This would result in Wisconsin having one of the most expansive joint and several liability laws in the nation.
