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Reading Tea Leaves: The Future Of Negotiations For Tort Claimants Free From Fault, Cornelius J. Peck

Seattle University Law Review

This Article first reviews what a study of the 1986 Tort Reform Act reveals to be problems created by that Act for negotiators of settlements in tort suits. These problems are greatest for fault-free plaintiffs. Next, a summary of the previous law governing joint and several liability provides an understanding of these problems and the changes negotiators should make in their negotiation strategies. The court's success in avoiding the mandated disaster for the Workers Compensation Fund raises the possibility that the court may also provide fault-free plaintiffs with an easier escape from the perils and pitfalls created by the Act …