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PENNSYLVANIA FAIR SHARE ACT UPDATE
Gregory R. Riley, Esquire and James N. Zeris, Esquire
(Continued from page 1)
For the past year, the Fair Share Act has remained good law in the Commonwealth pending the final outcome and judgment by the Supreme Court relative to the Attorney General's appeal. However, on September 28, 2006, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued its ruling in this matter.
In a one-sentence per curiam Order ("per curiam" is used here to mean a brief announcement of the decision by the Court without an opinion), the Court wrote, "The Order of the Commonwealth Court is affirmed." What this means for Pennsylvania practitioners is significant. Simply stated, the Fair Share Act is no longer good law in the Commonwealth, and we now return to the pre-Fair Share Act system of joint and several liability in which a defendant who is found to be at least 1% liable to a plaintiff could potentially be responsible for paying the entire judgment to the plaintiff if other defendants are uninsured or otherwise insolvent.
Needless to say, the defense bar in Pennsylvania is displeased with the return to the antiquated and arguably unfair pre-Fair Share Act system. The Philadelphia Association of Defense Counsel and other interested groups and persons plan to work swiftly with Pennsylvania legislators and the state government to author legislation similar to the Fair Share Act that will pass constitutional scrutiny.
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