§ 61.2. No limitation on bodily injury economic loss compensation--Limitation on bodily injury ...
Oklahoma Statutes AnnotatedTitle 23. Damages
23 Okl.St.Ann. § 61.2
§ 61.2. No limitation on bodily injury economic loss compensation--Limitation on bodily injury noneconomic loss compensation--Required findings
B. Except as provided in subsection C of this section, in any civil action arising from a claimed bodily injury, the amount of compensation which a trier of fact may award a plaintiff for noneconomic loss shall not exceed Three Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($350,000.00), regardless of the number of parties against whom the action is brought or the number of actions brought.
C. Notwithstanding subsection B of this section, there shall be no limit on the amount of noneconomic damages which the trier of fact may award the plaintiff in a civil action arising from a claimed bodily injury resulting from negligence if the judge and jury finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that the defendant's acts or failures to act were:
D. In the trial of a civil action arising from claimed bodily injury, if the verdict is for the plaintiff, the court, in a nonjury trial, shall make findings of fact, and the jury, in a trial by jury, shall return a general verdict accompanied by answers to interrogatories, which shall specify all of the following:
E. In any civil action to recover damages arising from claimed bodily injury, after the trier of fact makes the findings required by subsection D of this section, the court shall enter judgment in favor of the plaintiff for economic damages in the amount determined pursuant to paragraph 2 of subsection D of this section, and subject to paragraph 4 of subsection D of this section, the court shall enter a judgment in favor of the plaintiff for noneconomic damages. Except as provided in subsection C of this section, in no event shall a judgment for noneconomic damages exceed the maximum recoverable amounts set forth in subsection B of this section. Subsection B of this section shall be applied in a jury trial only after the trier of fact has made its factual findings and determinations as to the amount of the plaintiff's damages.
F. In any civil action arising from claimed bodily injury which is tried to a jury, the jury shall not be instructed with respect to the limit on noneconomic damages set forth in subsection B of this section, nor shall counsel for any party nor any witness inform the jury or potential jurors of such limitations.
G. This section shall not apply to actions brought under The Governmental Tort Claims Act1 or actions for wrongful death.
6. “Noneconomic damages” means nonpecuniary harm that arises from a bodily injury that is the subject of a civil action, including damages for pain and suffering, loss of society, consortium, companionship, care, assistance, attention, protection, advice, guidance, counsel, instruction, training, education, disfigurement, mental anguish and any other intangible loss; and
7. “Reckless disregard of another's rights” shall have the same meaning as willful and wanton conduct and shall mean that the defendant was either aware, or did not care, that there was a substantial and unnecessary risk that his, her or its conduct would cause serious injury to others. In order for the conduct to be in reckless disregard of another's rights, it must have been unreasonable under the circumstances and there must have been a high probability that the conduct would cause serious harm to another person.
I. This section shall apply to civil actions filed on or after November 1, 2011.
Credits
Laws 2009, c. 228, § 24, eff. Nov. 1, 2009; Laws 2011, c. 14, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2011.
Footnotes
Title 51, § 151 et seq.
23 Okl. St. Ann. § 61.2, OK ST T. 23 § 61.2
Current with emergency effective legislation through Chapter 295 of the Second Regular Session of the 59th Legislature (2024). Some sections may be more current, see credits for details.
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