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Sterling v. Gil Soucy Trucking9/18/2001
he post-judgment settlement orders are allowed to stand and if the judgment is reversed, the case may be tried again and a higher verdict awarded in which case Soucy Trucking and West would be deprived of their right to contribution from the Lowmans and West. Because Soucy Trucking and Caron make the same argument in each appeal, we address the two assignments of error simultaneously.
A.
Soucy Trucking and Caron argue that the trial court erred in approving the post-judgment settlements by the plaintiffs with the third-party defendants, the Lowmans and West. They argue it was error to conclude that the settlements were proper under the contribution statute and that they constituted a full release.
Soucy Trucking and Caron contend that the outcome of their appeal is governed by the holding in Medical Mutual Ins. Co. of N.C. v. Mauldin, 137 N.C. App. 690, 695, 529 S.E.2d 697, 700 (2000), aff'd per curiam, 353 N.C. 352 (2001). We will not discuss Medical Mutual as our Supreme Court has determined it is without precedential value. Id. at 353
The Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act, N.C.G.S. § 1B, Article 1, (the Contribution Statute), which governs the law of contribution in North Carolina, states that " he right to contribution exists only in favor of a tort-feasor who has paid more than his pro rata share of the common liability." N.C. Gen. State. § 1B-1(b) (1999). Thus, in order to seek contribution, a joint tort-feasor must show it has paid more than its pro-rata share. See Jones v. Shoji, 336 N.C. 581, 586, 444 S.E.2d 203, 206 (1994). Therefore, it is clear that a contribution action is separate from the initial liability action, and the right to seek contribution arises only when one joint tortfeasor has paid more than its share of the judgment. N.C.G.S. § 1B-1(b). Because defendants have not paid their share, have suffered no harm, the issue of contribution by third-party defendants (Jennifer and Clayton Lowman and West) is not ripe for resolution by this Court.
In the present case, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs and against the three defendants (Soucy Trucking and Caron, the Lowmans and West) finding them to be jointly and severally liable in the sum of sixty-two thousand five hundred dollars ($62,500.00). Plaintiffs appealed the verdict on the issue of damages and thereafter entered into post-judgment settlements with the third-party defendants, Jennifer and Clayton Lowman and West. The Lowmans and West paid their full pro-rata share of the total judgment costs and interest. Soucy Trucking and Caron have yet to pay anything.
Based on the foregoing facts, we find that this issue is not ripe for resolution by this Court. Soucy Trucking and Caron have not paid their share, they have suffered no harm and cannot yet pursue a contribution claim. Thus, the trial court's approval of the post-judgment settlements did not affect defendants, and they cannot attack their joint tort-feasors' attempts to settle with plaintiffs. See N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-57 (1999) (limiting actions to real parties interest); Parnell v. Insurance Co., 263 N.C. 445, 448-49, 139 S.E.2d 723, 726 (1965) (noting that a real party in interest is one who is benefitted or injured by the judgment). Defendants' contention that they might be forced to pay more than co-defendants if plaintiffs successfully appeal the damages issue and if a new jury awards plaintiffs more than the original verdict is too tenuous an assumption to support defendants' standing to assign error to the trial court's approval of the post-judgment settlements. Therefore, as this issue is not yet ripe and defendants do not have proper standing, any opinion issued at this juncture
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