2-1107.1.Jury instruction in tort actions.

Only the current version of this section requires a tax instruction. Added by P.A. 89-7 and applying to causes of action filed on or after its 1995 effective date, it covers negligence or product liability based on any theory or doctrine, and requires the court to instruct the jury in writing, to the extent that it is true, that any award of compensatory or punitive damages will not be taxed under federal or state income tax law. It then tells the court not to instruct the jury about the greater-than-50%-fault bar or about any cap on non-economic or punitive damages -- those limits are for the judge to apply after the verdict, by denying recovery or reducing an award as needed.

The earlier version, from P.A. 84-1431, contains no tax instruction whatsoever. It reaches only product-liability claims based on strict tort liability, not any theory or doctrine, and takes the opposite approach on fault: it affirmatively requires the court to instruct the jury that the defendant must be found not liable if the plaintiff's contributory fault exceeds 50% of the proximate cause. Under that older rule, the jury applies the more-than-50%-fault bar directly; under the current rule, the judge applies it after the verdict and the jury never hears about it.

Which version governs a given case turns on timing: the 1995 amendment states expressly that it applies to causes of action filed on or after its effective date, so the earlier version continues to govern causes of action filed before then.