Legal News

Governor signs 'Good Samaritan Bill' and others into law

By Richard Binder

Among the 131 of the 140 pieces of legislation that Governor Schwarzenegger signed after being put on hold pending budget negotiations, two have emerged that affect personal injury lawsuits.

The first, Assembly Bill 83 (otherwise known as the "Good Samaritan Bill"), protects people who are not in the medical profession from being sued after they help someone at the scene of an accident, unless their actions rise to the level of gross negligence or recklessness. The bill was supported both by the Consumer Attorneys of California and the Civil Justice Association of California (CJAC), a tort reform group.

The CJAC also spearheaded passage of Assembly Bill 470, which allows insurance companies to directly provide medical or accident records to an injured party's lawyer, according to Kim Stone (above), vice president for legislation at the CJAC. Previously, California's privacy laws allowed insurance companies to provide that information only to the injured party.

Full story at NLJ.com.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on August 18, 2009 (boomark / email).