Senator Johnson proposes the following amendment (SR-244.KM0041S):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, SECTION 1, by striking Section 15-38-15(A)(1) and inserting:

  (1) The trier of fact shall determine the percentage of fault of the plaintiff, of the defendant or defendants, and of any nonparty whose tortious act or omission occurrence was proven to be a proximate cause of the plaintiff's alleged damages. For purposes of apportioning fault on the verdict form, a "nonparty" means an individual or entity who has previously settled a claim arising out of the same tortious act or occurrence omission with the plaintiff, or if more than one plaintiff, who has previously settled with any plaintiff in the same civil action.

Amend the bill further, SECTION 1, by striking Section 15-38-15(A)(5)(a) and inserting:

   (a) each defendant is severally liable for his share of the total amount of the plaintiff's noneconomic damages, as defined in Section 15-32-210, and any punitive or exemplary damages; and

Amend the bill further, SECTION 1, by striking Section 15-38-15(B) and inserting:

 (C) (B) The jury, or the court if there is no jury, shall: Within one hundred eighty days of commencement of an action, or by leave of court for good cause shown, a defendant may move to add to the verdict form any person or entity, not otherwise excluded by subsection (C) or (F), who may be, or may have been, liable to the plaintiff if the defendant has a reasonable basis to believe that the person's or entity's act or omission was a proximate cause of the plaintiff's alleged damages, which must be set forth in its motion. If the defendant will assert the person or entity committed an act of professional negligence, the provisions of Section 15-36-100 apply, and the affidavit required pursuant to Section 15-36-100(B) must be filed with the motion.
  (1) Any party may make any motion at the appropriate time, including, but not limited to, a motion pursuant to Rules 12, 50, and 56 of the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure to dismiss or otherwise remove the added person or entity from the verdict form. The court shall apply the same standard to the dismissal or removal of an added person or entity, as it would to any party.
  (2) In order for the trier of fact to allocate any or all fault to an added person or entity, the defendant bears the burden of proof that the added person's or entity's conduct was a proximate cause of the plaintiff's damages unless the plaintiff's pleading is amended to assert a direct claim against the added person or entity pursuant to subitem (3).
  (3) The plaintiff may, within sixty days of the court granting a motion pursuant to this section, amend the plaintiff's pleading to assert any claim against the added person or entity arising out of the occurrence that is the subject matter of the pending litigation. This provision applies notwithstanding any statute of limitations as long as the plaintiff would have satisfied the applicable statute of limitations against the added person or entity if the plaintiff had named the added person or entity as a defendant when the suit was commenced.
   (a) A person or entity added as a party pursuant to this subitem shall be identified as a defendant in the caption of the action.
   (b) An amended pleading pursuant to this provision must comply with Rule 4 of the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure and be served on the added party within sixty days of filing the amended pleading.
   (c) A party added pursuant to this provision has the same rights to defend or plead as a defendant under the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure.
  (1) specify the amount of damages;
  (2) determine the percentage of fault, if any, of plaintiff and the amount of recoverable damages under applicable rules concerning "comparative negligence"; and
  (3) upon a motion by at least one defendant, where there is a verdict under items (1) and (2) above for damages against two or more defendants for the same indivisible injury, death, or damage to property, specify in a separate verdict under the procedures described at subitem (b) below the percentage of liability that proximately caused the indivisible injury, death, damage to property, or economic loss from tortious conduct, as determined by item (1) above, that is attributable to each defendant whose actions are a proximate cause of the indivisible injury, death, or damage to property. In determining the percentage attributable to each defendant, any fault of the plaintiff, as determined by item (2) above, will be included so that the total of the percentages of fault attributed to the plaintiff and to the defendants must be one hundred percent. In calculating the percentage of fault attributable to each defendant, inclusion of any percentage of fault of the plaintiff (as determined in item (2) above) shall not reduce the amount of plaintiff's recoverable damages (as determined under item (2) above).
   (a) For this purpose, the court may determine that two or more persons are to be treated as a single party. Such treatment must be used where two or more defendants acted in concert or where, by reason of agency, employment, or other legal relationship, a defendant is vicariously responsible for the conduct of another defendant.
   (b) After the initial verdict awarding damages is entered and before the special verdict on percentages of liability is rendered, the parties shall be allowed oral argument, with the length of such argument subject to the discretion of the trial judge, on the determination of the percentage attributable to each defendant. However, no additional evidence shall be allowed.

Amend the bill further, SECTION 1, by striking Section 15-38-15(C)(3) and (4) and inserting:

  (3) a person whose fault is imputed to the defendant or whose fault is based upon the fault of the nonparty for which a defendant is vicariously liable; or
  (4) a person involved in a case where the causes of action involve strict liability.; or

Amend the bill further, SECTION 1, by striking Section 15-38-15(F)(1), (2), and (3) and inserting:

 (F)(1) The following are excluded from being added to the verdict form pursuant to subsection (B) and from the modified joint and several liability contained in (A)(5)This section does not apply:
   (1)(a) to an action commenced by the State, a State agency, a municipality, a county, a local government, a regional public authority, a special purpose district, a public utility, or any other governmental entity or political subdivision, including, but not limited to, claims seeking recovery of public funds, remediation costs, or other damages arising from acts or omissions of third parties that result in harm to public health, safety, infrastructure, or the environment;
  (2)(b) to a defendant whose conduct is determined to be intentional, including an act or omission that is intentional; or
  (3)(c) where two or more defendants or nonparties knowingly pursue a common plan or design to commit a tortious act, or actively take part in it. This subitem does not apply to any cause of action arising out Section 15-3-710.
  (2) In an action to recover damages arising under any of the exempted items in this subsection, if indivisible damages are determined to be proximately caused by more than one defendant, joint and several liability does not apply to any defendant whose conduct is determined to be less than fifty percent of the total fault for the indivisible damages as compared with the total of the fault of all the defendants; and the fault (comparative negligence), if any, of plaintiff. A defendant whose conduct is determined to be less than fifty percent of the total fault shall only be liable for that percentage of the indivisible damages determined by the jury or trier of fact.

Amend the bill further, SECTION 2, by striking Section 15-38-20(H) and inserting:

 (H) The provisions in this section apply only to causes of action where the nonparty tortfeasor was not added to the verdict form pursuant to Section 15-38-15(A)(1), or (C), or (F).

Amend the bill further, SECTION 3, by striking Section 15-38-30 and inserting:

 Section 15-38-30. In determining the pro rata shares of tortfeasors in the entire liability (1) their relative degrees of fault shall not be considered; (2) if equity requires, the collective liability of some as a group shall constitute a single share; and (3) principles of equity applicable to contribution generally shall apply. This section applies only to causes of action where the nonparty tortfeasor was not added to the verdict form pursuant to Section 15-38-15(A)(1), or (C), or (F).

Amend the bill further, SECTION 4, by striking Section 15-38-40(G) and inserting:

 (G) The provisions in this section apply only to causes of action where the nonparty tortfeasor was not added to the verdict form pursuant to Section 15-38-15(A)(1), or (C), or (F).

Amend the bill further, SECTION 5.A., by striking Section 15-3-710(F) and inserting:

 (F) A licensee who affirmatively proves a forensic digital identification system approved by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division was used to confirm the validity of the person's identification has not knowingly sold, served, or furnished alcohol to that person for the purposes of subsection (F)(E).

Amend the bill further, SECTION 11, by striking Section 38-77-150(A) and inserting:

 (A) No automobile insurance policy or contract may be issued or delivered unless it contains a provision by endorsement or otherwise, herein referred to as the uninsured motorist provision, undertaking to pay the insured all sums which he is legally entitled to recover as damages from the owner or operator of an uninsured motor vehicle, within limits which may be no less than the requirements of Section 38-77-140. The uninsured motorist provision is not required to include coverage for punitive or exemplary damages. The uninsured motorist provision also must provide for no less than twenty-fivefifty thousand dollars coverage for injury to or destruction of the property of the insured in any one accident but may provide an exclusion of the first two hundred dollars of the loss or damage. The director or his designee may prescribe the form to be used in providing uninsured motorist coverage and when prescribed and promulgated no other form may be used.

Amend the bill further, SECTION 12, Section 38-77-160, by striking the MACROBUTTON NoMacro <> undesignated paragraph and inserting:

 Automobile insurance carriers shall offer, at the option of the insured, uninsured motorist coverage up to the limits of the insured's liability coverage in addition to the mandatory coverage prescribed by Section 38-77-150. In the offer of uninsured motorist coverage, the automobile insurance carriers shall offer the insured the option to include coverage for punitive or exemplary damages. Such carriers shall also offer, at the option of the insured, underinsured motorist coverage up to the limits of the insured liability coverage to provide coverage in the event that compensatory damages are sustained in excess of the liability limits carried by an at-fault insured or underinsured motorist or in excess of any damages cap or limitation imposed by statute. The underinsured motorist coverage is not required to include coverage for punitive or exemplary damages. However, in the mandatory offer of underinsured motorists coverage, automobile insurance carriers shall offer the insured the option to include coverage for punitive or exemplary damages. but are not required to include coverage for punitive or exemplary damages. If, however, an insured or named insured is protected by uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage in excess of the basic limits, the policy shall provide that the insured or named insured is protected only to the extent of the coverage he has on the vehicle involved in the accident. If none of the insured's or named insured's vehicles is involved in the accident, coverage is available only to the extent of coverage on any one of the vehicles with the excess or underinsured coverage. Benefits paid pursuant to this section are not subject to subrogation and assignment.

Renumber sections to conform.

Amend title to conform.