Click here to download the full report
“Tort Reform Unraveled” in a printable pdf format.
When the Oklahoma Supreme Court on June 4, 2013 struck down a landmark 2009 Tort Reform bill, it reversed law spread across 10 titles and 81 sections of Oklahoma Statutes. The order did not include references to the statutes created or amended by the now unconstitutional laws. Because the court didn’t reference those laws, until the legislature amends the statutes, those who rely on annotations in Oklahoma’s codified statutes will not be able to use annotations in relevant case law to identify the unconstitutional, unenforceable laws still on the books.
For that reason, we’ve prepared a list of titles, sections and acts created and amended by the Comprehensive Reform Act of 2009. The citations in the left column below link to pages in www.oscn.net where the relevant laws can be read online. The downloadable .pdf report also contains hyperlinks to the related laws.
Read more about the Supreme Court’s June 4, 2013 opinions in the related post Tort Reform Unraveled: Supreme Court Reverses 2009 Tort Bill.
| Comprehensive Lawsuit Reform Act of 2009 Act | |||||
| 12 O.S. §19 | new | expert affidavits | requires expert affidavits in professional negligence cases | ||
| 12 O.S. §140.2 | new | venue | requires courts to decline jurisdiction if action more appropriate for anther forum | ||
| 12 O.S. §192 | new | indigent certificate of merit | persons requesting indigent’s exemption from filing affidavit of merit must apply to court clerk, pay $40 fee, which may be deferred. | ||
| 12 O.S. §683 | voluntary dismissal | changes numbering | |||
| 12 O.S. §684 | voluntary dismissal | plaintiff may dismiss prior to pretrial, by agreement or order after pretrial, must pay defendants cost if refiled | |||
| 12 O.S. §727.1 | prejudgment interest | interest starts to accrue 24 months after suit filed | |||
| 12 O.S. §990.4 | Post-trial stays, appeal bonds | caps appeal bonds at $25 million, no bond required in appeal of punitive damages, judgment may be stayed while appeal is pending in any court | |||
| 12 O.S. §993 | class actions | allows appeal of certain denied motions but only when class has been certified and only as part of appeal certifying class | |||
| 12 O.S. §994.1 | new | Medicaid recovery | set formulas for Medicaid reimbursement on judgment or settlement | ||
| 12 O.S. §2004 | summons | summons must be served within 180 days of filing, presumptive dismissal if no service | |||
| 12 O.S. §2008 | statement of damages | require statement if damages in excess of $75,000, requires specification of amount if less than $75,000 | |||
| 12 O.S. §2009 | motion to clarify damages | defendant may file motion to clarify damages to require defendant to show damages will not qualify for diversity jurisdiction | |||
| 12 O.S. §2011 | frivolous lawsuits | changed language for attorneys certifying case as non-frivolous | |||
| 12 O.S. §2023 | class actions | various changes, including court determines attorney fees if class members object | |||
| 12 O.S. §2056 | new | summary judgment | must dismiss if “no genuine issue as to any material fact” (formerly “no dispute as to” | ||
| 12 O.S. §2702 | expert testimony | adds conditions for relevancy of expert testimony | |||
| 12 O.S. §2703 | expert testimony | inadmissible evidence can’t be introduced during expert testimony | |||
| 12 O.S. §3226 | statement of damages | plaintiff must provide computation of damages and supporting evidence within 60 days of filing | |||
| 12A O.S. §1 – 304 | duty of good faith | eliminates cause of action for breach of duty of good faith in contracts | |||
| 20 O.S. §56 | new | indigent certificate of merit | required Supreme Court to set standard for indigent exemption to affidavit of merit | ||
| 23 O.S. §15 | joint and several liability | eliminates exception from several liability where jointfeasor has less than 50% of liability and no comparative negligence by plaintiff. Clarifies that only jointfeasor jointly liable when liability arises from that jointfeasor’s willful or reckless conduct. | |||
| 23 O.S. §61.2 | new | cap damages | caps non-economic damages at $400,000 | ||
| 36 O.S. §2211 | new | indemnity fund | creates Health Care Indemnity Fund Task Force | ||
| 47 O.S. §11 – 1112 | seat belt | seat belt use inadmissible unless child under 16 | |||
| 47 O.S. §12 – 420 | seat belt | seat belt use inadmissible unless child under 16 | |||
| 63 O.S. §1 – 1709.1 | peer review statements inadmissible | revises and limits circumstances in which professional peer review statements are subject to discovery in medical malpractice cases | |||
| 63 O.S. §683.9 | emergency operations planning | minor changes – copy edits | |||
| 63 O.S. §683.13 | emergency management | excludes volunteer health practitioners as defined in new Volunteer Practitioner Act | |||
| Uniform Emergency Volunteer Health Practitioners Act | |||||
| 63 O.S. §684.14 | new | volunteer health workers | title | ||
| 63 O.S. §684.15 | new | volunteer health workers | definitions | ||
| 63 O.S. §684.16 | new | volunteer health workers | scope | ||
| 63 O.S. §684.17 | new | volunteer health workers | grant authority | ||
| 63 O.S. §684.18 | new | volunteer health workers | describes registration system | ||
| 63 O.S. §684.19 | new | volunteer health workers | grants license reciprocity in emergency | ||
| 63 O.S. §684.2 | new | volunteer health workers | clarifies scope of credentials | ||
| 63 O.S. §684.21 | new | volunteer health workers | limits scope of practice | ||
| 63 O.S. §684.22 | new | volunteer health workers | allows official inclusion of volunteer workers | ||
| 63 O.S. §684.23 | new | volunteer health workers | authorizes Board of Health to promulgate rules | ||
| 63 O.S. §684.24 | new | volunteer health workers | seeks uniformity among states | ||
| 76 O.S. §31 | volunteer health workers | grants limited immunity from liability | |||
| Common Sense Consumption Act | |||||
| 76 O.S. §33 | new | food products | title | ||
| 76 O.S. §34 | new | food products | purpose | ||
| 76 O.S. §35 | new | food products | definitions | ||
| 76 O.S. §36 | new | food products | limit liability and provide exemptions from limited liability | ||
| 76 O.S. §50.2 | agritourism | adds agritourism to ag business with liability immunity | |||
| 76 O.S. §51 | new | firearms | firearms manufacturer liability immunity findings | ||
| 76 O.S. §52 | new | firearms | firearms manufacturer liability immunity | ||
| 76 O.S. §53 | new | firearms | firearms licensed dealer or collector liability immunity | ||
| 76 O.S. §54 | new | firearms | exemptions | ||
| 76 O.S. §57 | new | product liability | immunity for manufacturers of inherently unsafe products | ||
| 76 O.S. §58 | new | product liability | product improvements are not evidence of prior culpability | ||
| Asbestos and Silica Claims Priorities Act | |||||
| 76 O.S. §60 | new | asbestos | |||
| 76 O.S. §61 | new | asbestos | |||
| 76 O.S. §62 | new | asbestos | |||
| 76 O.S. §63 | new | asbestos | |||
| 76 O.S. §64 | new | asbestos | |||
| 76 O.S. §65 | new | asbestos | |||
| 76 O.S. §66 | new | asbestos | |||
| 76 O.S. §67 | new | asbestos | |||
| 76 O.S. §68 | new | asbestos | |||
| 76 O.S. §69 | new | asbestos | |||
| 76 O.S. §70 | new | asbestos | |||
| 76 O.S. §71 | new | asbestos | |||
| Innocent Successor Asbestos-Related Liability Fairness Act | |||||
| 76 O.S. §72 | new | asbestos | |||
| 76 O.S. §73 | new | asbestos | |||
| 76 O.S. §74 | new | asbestos | |||
| 76 O.S. §75 | new | asbestos | |||
| 76 O.S. §76 | new | asbestos | |||
| 76 O.S. §77 | new | asbestos | |||
| 76 O.S. §78 | new | asbestos | |||
| 76 O.S. §79 | new | asbestos | |||
| 70 O.S. §6 – 101.7 | new | educational institution representation | attorneys who represented school district in personnel hearings may not preside at hearings or influence related executive sessions | ||
| School Protection Act | |||||
| 70 O.S. §6 – 140 | new | school liability | title | ||
| 70 O.S. §6 – 141 | new | school liability | purpose | ||
| 70 O.S. §6 – 142 | new | school liability | definitions | ||
| 70 O.S. §6 – 143 | new | school liability | criminalizes false accusations of criminal activity against education employe | ||
| 70 O.S. §6 – 144 | new | school liability | award costs to prevailing party in action against school or staff, but not in actions between school and staff | ||
| 70 O.S. §6 – 145 | new | school liability | insurers indemnity isn’t waiver of defense | ||
| 70 O.S. §6 – 146 | new | school liability | provides suspension of students who assault volunteers, does not bar criminal prosecution | ||
| 70 O.S. §6 – 147 | new | school liability | provides leave of absence for education workers injured in assault | ||
| 70 O.S. §6 – 148 | new | school liability | clarifies relationship with Governmental Tort Claims Act | ||
| 51 O.S. §155 | teacher liability | State not liable for claims resulting from reasonable force or resulting from out-of-school detention | |||
| Repealed | |||||
| 6 O.S. §6602 | emergency health care | ||||
| 63 O.S. §1708.1E | affidavit of merit | affidavit of merit in medical liability cases previously stricken as special law | |||
| 63 O.S. §1708.1G | prejudgment interest | set prejudgment interest at U.S. Treasury Bill rate | |||
Click here to download the full report
“Tort Reform Unraveled” in a printable pdf format.
