The Arizona Senate has passed legislation to the House of Representatives that aims to decrease litigation costs and improve the state’s civil justice system.

SB 1092, sponsored by Sen. Vince Leach, intends to place limitations on product liability lawsuits directed at sellers. Product sellers are often pulled into these trials while having no impact on the construction of the product and made alterations that could have caused harm to the plaintiff.

The bill is endorsed by the Arizona division of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).

“Product liability lawsuits really should be limited to manufacturers and those parties who have actively contributed to the design and production of the product,” NFIB Arizona President Chad Heinrich said. “Unfortunately, the trial bar takes a much more expansive view and attempts to draw sellers into lawsuits even when the seller did nothing more than place the product on the store shelf.”

A related bill was introduced during the 2020 legislative session but was not passed before the session was suspended because of the pandemic.

That bill had the backing from many business groups, including the NFIB and the Arizona Retailers Association but was opposed by the Arizona Trial Lawyers Association (AzAJ). The AzAJ seeks to protect the plaintiff’s rights and is opposed to the current bill, SB 1092. 

Twenty states have passed similar bills, including Washington, Delaware, Minnesota, and New Jersey.

“Arizona has an outstanding civil justice environment, and lawmakers have done an excellent job in adopting policies that reduce expensive, time-consuming, and unfair lawsuits,” Heinrich said. “But there’s always room for improvement. Just as other states have done, Arizona should pass a law that prevents innocent retailers from getting dragged into lawsuits that they shouldn’t be involved in.”

Source: Chamber Business News