Potomac Hospital Corp. v. Dillon

In 1982, the General Assembly amended Code § 8.01-35.1* 1 (the covenant-not-to-sue statute) by adding subsection D which provides that the statute “shall apply to all . . . covenants not to *357sue executed on or after July 1, 1979, and to all releases executed on or after July 1, 1980, regardless of the date the causes of action affected thereby accrued.” Acts 1982, c. 196. The principal question in this appeal is whether this provision violates constitutional due process when retroactive application of the statute adversely affects a joint tort-feasor’s substantive right of contribution.

This is…