North Dakota Code 23.1-12-26 – Third-party damages – Participation in actions and review of settlements
1. An owner or operator sued for damages resulting from a release shall notify the department within fourteen days of being served with a summons and complaint. The owner or operator also shall advise the department if any insurer is defending the owner or operator and provide to the department the name of that insurer.
Terms Used In North Dakota Code 23.1-12-26
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- Property: includes property, real and personal. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
2. An owner or operator that, before litigation, enters negotiations with a third party that claims to have been damaged by a release, or that receives a demand for payment of damages to a third party that claims to have been damaged by a release, shall notify the department within fourteen days of the demand or the negotiations.
3. The department and the board shall review the conduct of any litigation or negotiation.
The department may not assume any legal costs incurred by the defendant or plaintiff, but may participate in discovery, trial proceedings, or settlement negotiations of either disputed liability or damages that bear on the determination of a plaintiff’s damages.
4. The department and the board shall review any settlement negotiations to determine the dollar amount of bodily injury or property damage actually, necessarily, and reasonably incurred by third parties which, if paid by the defendant, would be considered eligible costs.