Law Commons^™

New Settlement Statute: Its History And Effect, David A. Fischer

Faculty Publications

The statute concerning releases in multiple tortfeasor cases was amended to encourage settlements in two ways. It protects the settling tortfeasor from future liability for contribution, and it protects the settling claimant from having future judgments against non-settling tortfeasors reduced by more than an amount ascertainable at the time of the settlement. This article discusses the operation of the new statute and its relation to the law of contribution, indemnity, and comparative fault in Missouri.