The Justices are Still Out on the Viability of Third-Party Claims Under West Virginia Code Sections 55-7-13a-d
Article
| March 2021
By Jordan V. Palmer, as published in The DTCWV Defender (Winter Edition 2021)
In the Winter Edition 2019 of The DTCWV Defender, I argued that in light of the 2015 sweeping changes to the State’s law regarding comparative fault, third-party claims for contribution were typically impermissible. Since the passage of West Virginia Code Sections 55-7-13a-d, the defense bar appears to have collectively come to this same conclusion, and the Northern and Southern District Courts of West Virginia have agreed. However, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia has yet to make substantive rulings on these new statutes, leaving us without ironclad guidance on the applicability of these provisions.