FIRSTREGULARSESSION
HOUSEBILLNO.1540
103RDGENERALASSEMBLY
INTRODUCEDBYREPRESENTATIVEDIEHL.
3153H.02I JOSEPHENGLER,ChiefClerk
ANACT
Toamendchapter537,RSMo,byaddingtheretoonenewsectionrelatingtocomparative
negligenceorfault.
BeitenactedbytheGeneralAssemblyofthestateofMissouri,asfollows:
SectionA.Chapter537,RSMo,isamendedbyaddingtheretoonenewsection,tobe
2knownassection537.769,toreadasfollows:
537.769.1.Inanyactionfordamagesforpersonalinjury,propertydamage,or
2wrongfuldeathbasedonnegligenceoranunreasonablyunsafeordangerouscondition:
3 (1)Thefactthattheplaintiffmayhavebeencontributorilynegligentorassumed
4ariskshallnotbarrecoverybytheplaintiffexceptasprovidedinsubsection2ofthis
5section;and
6 (2)Thetotaldamagesthattheplaintiffwouldotherwisebeentitledtorecover
7shallbediminishedinproportiontotheamountofnegligenceorfaultattributabletothe
8plaintiff.
9 2.(1)Iftheplaintiff'snegligenceorfaultisdeterminedtobefiftypercentor
10more,theplaintiffshallbebarredfromanyrecoveryofdamages.
11 (2)Thetrieroffactshalldetermine:
12 (a)Thetotalamountofdamagestheplaintiffwouldhavebeenentitledto
13recoverabsentanycontributoryfault;
14 (b)Thepercentageoffaultattributabletoeachparty,includinganythirdparty
15whomaybeatfault;and
16 (c)Anyreductionoftheplaintiff'sdamagesinproportiontothefaultallocated
17totheplaintiff.
EXPLANATION—Matterenclosedinbold-facedbrackets[thus] intheabovebillisnotenactedandis
intendedtobeomittedfromthelaw.Matterinbold-facetypeintheabovebillisproposedlanguage. 18 3.Ifmultipledefendantsarefoundliable,thecourtshall:
19 (1)Determineeachdefendant'sshareoffaultasapercentageofthetotalfaultof
20allparties,includingtheplaintiff;
21 (2)Enterjudgmentagainsteachdefendantinanamountproportionaltothat
22defendant'sshareofthetotaldamages,subjecttothebarundersubsection2ofthis
23section.
24 4.Ifitisdeterminedthattheplaintiff'spercentageoffaultmeetsorexceedsthe
25thresholdstatedundersubsection2ofthissection,theplaintiffshallrecoverno
26damages.Theconceptofjointandseveralliabilityshallnotbeappliedinfavorofa
27plaintiffwhoserecoveryisbarredundersubsection2ofthissection.
28 5.Thecourtshallinstructthejuryontheapplicationofcomparativefault
29consistentwiththeprovisionsofthissection,includingthedeterminationofthe
30plaintiff'spercentageoffault,thedefendant'spercentageoffault,andthebarto
31recoveryiftheplaintiff'sfaultmeetsorexceedsfiftypercent.
32 6.Theprovisionsofthissectionshallapplytoanycauseofactionaccruingonor
33afterAugust28,2025.
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HB1540 2