Senate debates S.244 amendment on nonparty names on verdict forms; tabling motion fails 19-25

Senators debated Amendment 1A to S.244 — a provision aimed at letting defendants place certain nonparties or settled parties on jury verdict forms — in a session that stretched for hours and ended with a roll-call vote refusing to table the amendment.

The amendment, identified on the floor as 1A and described by its sponsor as an attempt to create a process for including nonparties on verdict forms, drew lengthy back-and-forth about juries, notice, and who ultimately bears the financial consequences of civil liability.

Supporters said the amendment adds a procedural path to put a nonparty on a verdict form only after a defendant identifies and serves that person, arguing the change restores tools the sponsor said the majority leader and others want. "This provides a mechanism ... to stick non parties and settled parties on the verdict form," Senator Goldfinch, the senator from Georgetown, told colleagues while defending the amendment's limits and process requirements.

Opponents said the amendment contains broad carve-outs that would swallow the intended reform and leave injured parties at greater risk. "This is a compromise among trial lawyers for…