The following information describes the responsibility that multiple defendants during arbitration in the state of Florida.
The following provisions of this section apply in pursuant to s.766.207, where one or more defendants have partaken in voluntary binding arbitration.
Those defendants who have voluntarily agreed to participate in arbitration will have a right to dispute the responsibilities for the financial costs of the arbitration within 20 days after a decision has been made about the damages in the initial arbitration by the panel of arbitrators. If the defendant is a hospital that is licensed under the provisions of chapter 395, a certified risk manager must be selected as an arbitrator, if not, the three arbitrators within the proceeding will consist of the chief arbitrator and two others who will be medical professionals. There will have to be a submission of no more than five candidates that can potentially be an arbitrator by each defendant in the event that no decision can be made within 20 days of first arbitration of damages. The decision of whom will become the arbitrator is dependent upon the Division of Administrative Hearings. They will choose no more than one candidate that has been listed by the defendant.
The arbitrators will be organized by the chief arbitrator once the conclusions of the damages have been performed by the arbitration panel 65 days after. In addition, the damages will be spread out accordingly among each person responsible for paying for damages.
Even though a defendant may have agreed to arbitrate or not, all defendants that were named in the intent to file a lawsuit notice shall have financial responsibility allocated by the arbitration panel. Within the arbitration proceeding, the non-economic and economic damages that are awarded will be split amongst the defendants by the arbitration. All defendants will have to evenly pay for any damages acquired during the arbitration. Any defendant that did not partake in the arbitration will not be bound with the percentage that has been determined of the fault that they had in the incident, nor can any other civil proceeding admit it.
Liability of a plaintiff or defendant will be relinquished by the payments that are made in regards to the awarded damages that the panel of arbitrators deemed so in the first proceeding.
Any defendant that paid the damages in the arbitration can file a lawsuit against those defendants who partook in the negligence but did not contribute to paying for the damages pursuant to s.766.207 or this section.