English v. Robbins

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In 2010, Plaintiff filed a medical malpractice suit against Appellants, several healthcare practitioners. Before trial, Appellants filed third-party complaints against Gary Slaton for contribution and an allocation of fault pursuant to, inter alia, the Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act. The jury apportioned one hundred percent of fault to Slaton and found that Plaintiff obtained zero damages. The circuit court later vacated its previous judgment and granted a new trial based on recent decisions by the Supreme Court, concluding that the third-party complaints were not properly before the jury. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) Act 1116 of 2013 could not be applied retroactively to this case because it created a new, substantive right of allocation of fault that Appellants sought to invoke in this case; and (2) any error in instructing the jury was not harmless. View "English v. Robbins" on Justia Law