Just over 10 years ago, the landmark Pennsylvania Fair Share Act (42 Pa.C.S. Section 7102) was signed into law. The act abolished joint and several liability in most negligence and strict liability cases. The statute accomplished that objective by clearly and unambiguously stating that, apart from a limited class of excepted cases, "a defendant's liability shall be several and not joint, and the court shall enter a separate and several judgment in favor of the plaintiff and against each defendant for the apportioned amount of that defendant's liability." As a member of the House at the time who led the debate on the floor in support of the Fair Share Act, I was proud to stand with Gov. Tom Corbett as he signed the bill in the rotunda of the state capitol.

Replacing the unfair concept of joint and several liability, where a defendant could be required to pay 100% of a verdict even if only minimally liable, was a long and arduous task. Two previous versions met their demise. One was struck down by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for reasons unrelated to the substance of the bill, while Gov. Ed Rendell vetoed the second effort. Finally, on June 28, 2011, Pennsylvania's archaic joint and several liability law was replaced by a fair law requiring each defendant to pay according to the percentage of liability assigned by the jury and nothing more, unless one defendant is sixty percent or more at fault. In doing so, Pennsylvania joined 42 other states in repealing or altering common law joint and several liability. Fairness was finally restored across the commonwealth.