HB420 Summary

• Regulates litigation financing agreements by requiring disclosure to courts and opposing parties, limiting financiers' share of recovery to not exceed the funded consumer's share, and prohibiting financiers from directing litigation decisions or assigning agreements.

• Allows employers to admit in civil suits that employees were acting within the scope of employment, restricting employer liability to vicarious liability only (with exceptions for wanton conduct meeting clear and convincing evidence standards).

• Caps noneconomic damages at $1,000,000 for personal injury actions arising on or after January 1, 2025, with adjustments every three years based on the Consumer Price Index.

• Restricts evidence of medical expense damages to amounts actually paid, medical care plan reimbursement rates, or Medicare rates, requiring detailed disclosure of medical billing information and factoring company involvement.

• Modifies expert testimony standards to require proponents to demonstrate it is "more likely than not" that underlying principles and their application are reliable, expands seatbelt evidence admissibility, restricts attorney advertising of damage awards to final amounts actually recovered and paid, and requires venue transfer to the county where the cause of action arose.