Businesses such as restaurants, hotels, supermarkets,
convenience stores and others will be affected by major changes to
Florida's tort law. Please see Holland & Knight's
alert, "Florida Enacts Major Tort Reform and Bad-Faith
Insurance Claim Legislation," published on March 28,
2023.
The bill, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, went into effect on March
24, 2023. A rush to the courthouse with negligence lawsuits in
advance of its effective date on the same day suggests that HB 837
will curtail the overall tort liability confronted by all kinds of
companies operating in Florida.
The bill replaces the state's system of pure comparative
negligence with a modified comparative negligence regime, shortens
the statute of limitations for general negligence actions from four
years to two, amends the standard for bad-faith insurance claims,
outlines the evidence that a factfinder calculating medical damages
in personal injury or wrongful death actions should consider,
requires
