Recent Montana News
January 2024 Newsletter
Montana maintains liability limits, but risks remain A jackpot jury award in Montana was reduced in alignment with the state’s reasonable limits on non-economic damages, but not before a sixteen-month period of uncertainty that left the medical liability climate at...
Judge Rules to Cap Largest Medical Malpractice Verdict in Montana History
$6 million award reduced to $250,000 GREAT FALLS — Sixteen months after a jury awarded Joey Zahara $6 million in his medical malpractice suit against a Great Falls neurosurgeon, Cascade County Judge John Kutzman released a 25-page summation Monday citing his...
South Dakota Latest State to Enact Virus Liability Shield Law
SOURCE: Bloomberg South Dakota businesses, health-care providers, and others are largely shielded from lawsuits over Covid-19 exposure and deaths under legislation signed into law by Republican Gov. Kristi Noem. The measure, HB 1046, bars lawsuits from employees,...
Current Medical Liability Laws
| Damage Caps | $250,000 cap on non- economic damages (1995, 1997) |
| Joint Liability Reform | Any party whose negligence is 50% or less of the combined negligence of all persons is severally liable only. The remaining parties are jointly and severally liable for the total less the amount attributable to the claimant. A party may be jointly liable for all damages caused by the negligence of another if both acted in concert or if one party acted as an agent of the other. |
| Collateral Source Reform | Yes, in cases where damages exceed $50,000. Total damages must be reduced by amount of prior payment from collateral sources that do not involve rights of subrogation. |
| Attorney Fees Limited | No |
| Periodic Payments Permitted | Yes. Upon any party’s request, the court must enter an order for periodic payment of future damages exceeding $50,000. |