Iowa Code § 668.4

Joint and several liability

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In actions brought under this chapter, the rule of joint and several liability shall not apply to defendants who are found to bear less than fifty percent of the total fault assigned to all parties. However, a defendant found to bear fifty percent or more of fault shall only be jointly and severally liable for economic damages and not for any noneconomic damage awards. 84 Acts, ch 1293, §4; 97 Acts, ch 197, §13, 16

668.5 Right of contribution. 1. A right of contribution exists between or among two or more persons who are liable upon the same indivisible claim for the same injury, death, or harm, whether or not judgment has been recovered against all or any of them. It may be enforced either in the original action\n\nTue Dec 09 21:57:38 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 668 (24, 0) 3 LIABILITY IN TORT — COMPARATIVE FAULT, §668.8\n\nor by a separate action brought for that purpose. The basis for contribution is each person’s equitable share of the obligations, including the share of fault of a claimant, as determined in accordance with section 668.3. 2. Contribution is available to a person who enters into a settlement with the claimant only if the liability of the person against whom contribution is sought has been extinguished and only to the extent that the amount paid in settlement was reasonable. 3. Contractual or statutory rights of persons not enumerated in section 668.2 for subrogation for losses recovered in proceedings pursuant to this chapter shall not exceed that portion of the judgment or verdict specifically related to such losses, as shown by the itemization of the judgment or verdict returned under section 668.3, subsection 8, and according to the findings made pursuant to section 668.14, subsection 3, and such contractual or statutory subrogated persons shall be responsible for a pro rata share of the legal and administrative expenses incurred in obtaining the judgment or verdict. 4. Subrogation payment restrictions imposed pursuant to subsection 3 apply to settlement recoveries, but only to the extent that the settlement was reasonable. 84 Acts, ch 1293, §5; 87 Acts, ch 157, §7 Referred to in §455B.472B

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 40 cases, 1985–2020 · leading case: Baldwin v. City of Waterloo

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Baldwin v. City of Waterloo (1985) iowa · cites it 82× “See Iowa Code § 668.4 . The issue is therefore not one of fact, but of law, and we are not bound by the district court's application of the law.”

Slager v. HWA Corp. (1989) iowa · cites it 36× “Iowa Code § 668.4 . Clearly, there is an irreconcilable difference between the two statutes as to the rule.”

Reese v. Werts Corp. (1985) iowa · cites it 24× “We must decide what the legislature intended when it provided that Iowa Code section 668.4 “applies to all cases tried on or after July 1, 1984.”

Schwennen v. Abell (1988) iowa · cites it 24× “The chapter 668 statutory scheme may indirectly affect the extent of plaintiff's recovery against particular defendants, however, through the application of section 668.4. B. Effect of injured spouse's fault on deprived spouse's claim under Goetzman.”

Reilly v. Anderson (2006) iowa · cites it 18× “See Iowa Code § 668.4 (providing for joint and several liability only when persons are found at least fifty percent at fault).”

Estate of Pearson v. Interstate Power & Light Co. (2005) iowa · cites it 11× “4 requires “a defendant found to bear fifty percent or more of fault shall only be jointly and severally liable for economic damages and not for any noneconomic damage awards.”

Pepper v. Star Equipment, Ltd. (1992) iowa · cites it 10× “Under Iowa Code section 668.4 (1989), if a defendant is found to bear fifty percent or more of the aggregate fault, that party is liable for the total damages assessed, diminished only by the plaintiff's percentage of fault and fault attributable to released parties.”

Beeler v. Van Cannon (1985) iowa · cites it 8× “We reject plaintiff’s equal protection challenge to the legislature’s choice of the effective date for Iowa Code section 668.4 (1985). In Goetzman v. Wichern, we abolished the common law doctrine of contributory negligence and supplanted it with the doctrine of pure comparative…”

Evangelatos v. Superior Court (1988) cal · cites it 2× “, Iowa Code Ann. § 668.4 (West 1987) [joint and several liability does not apply to defendants who bear less that 50 percent of fault]; Minn.”

Dumont v. Keota Farmers Cooperative (1989) iowactapp · cites it 12× “Section 668.4, Iowa Code (1989) carves out an exception to the general rule of joint and several liability by providing that joint and several liability "shall not apply to defendants who are found to bear less than fifty percent of the fault assigned to all parties.”

Thorp v. Casey's General Stores, Inc. (1989) iowa · cites it 4× “2d 486, 492 (Iowa 1985) for the proposition that due process is not violated by the retroactive application of a newly enacted statute, Iowa Code section 668.4 (1985), which discontinued unlimited joint and several liability in tort cases.”

Spaur v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. (1994) iowa · cites it 2× “Under section 668.4, imposing joint and several liability, “a slight difference in fault allocation may produce a substantial difference in recovery.”

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