[§663-10.98]  Design professional liability;
highways.  (a)  Any other law to the contrary notwithstanding, including
but not limited to sections 663-10.9, 663-11 to 663-13, 663-16, 663-17, and
663-31, in any case involving tort claims relating to the design, construction,
and maintenance of highways, where a design professional is determined to be a
joint tortfeasor along with one or more other joint tortfeasors, and the degree
of negligence of the design professional is ten per cent or less, including the
vicarious liability of the design professional for the negligent acts or
omissions of the officers and employees of the design professional, the
liability of the design professional for more than the design professional's
pro rata share of negligence shall not exceed the available policy limits of
the design professional's professional liability coverage; provided that one of
the following applies:



(1)  The contract amount for design professional
services relating to the tort claim is $500,000 or less and the design
professional is covered for the claim by a professional liability insurance
policy with limits of no less than $1,000,000 per occurrence and $1,000,000 in
the aggregate; or



(2)  The contract amount for design professional
services relating to the tort claim is $1,000,000 or less and the design
professional is covered for the claim by a professional liability insurance
policy with limits of no less than $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 in
the aggregate.



(b)  This section shall not apply to any design
professional with a gross annual revenue of $10,000,000 or more during any of
the three calendar years immediately preceding the effective date of the
contract for design professional services relating to the tort claim. 
Information produced pursuant to this section relating to gross revenue shall
be confidential and used only for purposes of this section unless otherwise
ordered by the court.



(c)  For purposes of this section:



"Available policy limits" means the
remaining occurrence or aggregate policy limits available after reduction for
prior claim payments made under the applicable professional liability insurance
policy.



"Contract amount" means the maximum
charges permitted under the contract; provided that if two or more design
professional firms share in a contract, the contract amount shall be the share
of maximum charges permitted for the design professional against which the
claim is asserted.



"Design professional" means a
professional engineer, architect, surveyor, or landscape architect licensed
under chapter 464. [L 2009, c 179, §2]