H. B. 4120
(By Delegates Webster, Brown, Shook, Hamilton, Azinger,
Fleischauer
, Miley, Mahan and Proudfoot)
[Introduced January 22, 2008; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §55-7-25, relating to
prohibiting inclusion of specific dollar amounts or figures
related to damages in complaints for personal injury or
wrongful death
actions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §55-7-25, to read as
follows:
CHAPTER 55. ACTIONS, SUITS AND ARBITRATION; JUDICIAL SALE.
ARTICLE 7. ACTIONS FOR INJURIES.
§55-7-25. Personal injury and wrongful death actions; complaint;
specific amount of damages not to be stated.
In any action to recover damages for personal injury or
wrongful death, no specific dollar amount or figure relating to
damages being sought may be included in the complaint. However,
the complaint may include a statement reciting that the amount in
controversy satisfies the minimum jurisdictional amount established for filing the action. Further, any party defendant may at any
time request a written statement setting forth the nature and
amount of damages sought. The request shall be served upon the
plaintiff who shall serve a responsive statement as to the nature
and amount of damages sought within thirty days thereafter. If no
response is served within thirty days after receipt of service by
the plaintiff, the party defendant requesting the statement may
petition the court in which the action is pending to order the
plaintiff to serve a responsive statement upon the requesting party
defendant. This section applies only to causes of action which
accrue on or after the first day of July, two thousand eight.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
prohibit inclusion of
specific dollar amounts or figures related to damages in complaints
for personal injury or wrongful death actions.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs have been
omitted.
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