§ 33.002.Applicability

The reach of the chapter, stated as an inclusion followed by three exclusions.

It applies to any cause of action based on tort in which a defendant, settling person, or responsible third party is found responsible for a percentage of the harm, and to any action under the Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act on the same terms.

Tort is the operative word. A pure breach of contract claim is outside the chapter, so there is no apportionment and no 51 percent bar. Whether a claim sounds in tort or contract therefore decides whether the whole apportionment apparatus applies, which makes characterisation worth settling early.

Three exclusions. First, an action to collect workers' compensation benefits, and actions against an employer for exemplary damages arising out of an employee's death. Second — and this one is easy to miss — a claim for exemplary damages included in an action to which this chapter otherwise applies. Third, a cause of action for damages arising from the manufacture of methamphetamine under Chapter 99.

The exemplary damages carve-out matters. In a case where the chapter governs the compensatory award, the punitive award is not reduced by the claimant's percentage of responsibility — that award is governed by Chapter 41 instead, which has its own caps and its own unanimity requirement.

Subsections (b) and (d) through (h) were repealed in the 2003 reforms, which is why the section reads with gaps.