HARRISBURG, Pa., July 27, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry today said it will work with lawmakers to re-enact the Fair Share Act after Commonwealth Court struck down the 2002 law due to a procedural error in its passage.
"A bipartisan effort went into replacing Pennsylvania's joint and several liability law with comparative responsibility to create a system that was fair to both plaintiffs and defendants; one that held business responsible only for the harm they caused," said Maura Donley, PA Chamber vice president. "That the merits of the law were never in question demonstrates the lengths to which opponents will go to undermine the work of lawmakers from both parties to restore fairness, common sense and personal responsibility to our legal system."
Donley said the inflammatory rhetoric from some of the legislative leaders who challenged the law shows a clear lack of understanding of what the Fair Share Act would have accomplished - ensuring that liability equals fault - or of how the state's liability crisis is slowing economic growth and job creation, impacting Pennsylvania residents as much as the business community.
"The Chamber agrees that justice should be sought in a fair and balanced way," Donley said. "That's why we will continue working with Republican and Democratic lawmakers to again repeal a legal doctrine that ignores degree of fault and allows personal injury lawyers to go after companies solely because they have 'deep pockets.'"
The PA Chamber of Business and Industry logo is available at: http://media.primezone.com/prs/single/?pkgid=353
The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry is the state's largest broad-based business association, with more than 9,000 members covering all 67 counties. More information is available on the Chamber's website at www.pachamber.org.