Like State Efforts, Senate’s Virus Liability Limit’s No Cure-All

The virus liability shield for businesses that Senate Republicans see as a top priority in the next stimulus bill would give companies an advantage in litigation, but wouldn’t necessarily spare them the time and expense of defending themselves in court.

Depending on how the federal proposal gets written, companies could have to show their business operations didn’t amount to gross negligence during a pandemic in order to get immunity from liability, attorneys told Bloomberg Law. That’s the standard a number of states have set in enacting their own virus liability shields.

“In all of the states [that have enacted liability ...