Legal Definitions - cotortfeasor

A cotortfeasor is an individual or entity who, along with one or more other parties, commits a civil wrong (known as a tort) that causes harm or injury to another person. This means they are jointly responsible for the wrongful act and the resulting damages, even if their specific contributions to the harm were different.

• Example 1: Concurrent Negligence in an Accident

  Imagine two drivers, Alex and Ben, are both speeding and driving recklessly on a highway. They are not racing each other, but their combined dangerous driving leads to a multi-car pile-up, injuring several other motorists. In this scenario, Alex and Ben would be considered cotortfeasors. Their individual negligent actions, though separate, converged to cause the same harm to the victims, making them jointly liable for the damages.

• Example 2: Joint Intentional Harm

  Consider a situation where two individuals, Clara and David, conspire to break into a rival business and intentionally damage its equipment and property. They both participate in the act of vandalism, with Clara breaking windows and David spray-painting graffiti inside. Clara and David are cotortfeasors because their joint, intentional actions constituted the tort of trespass to property and property damage, causing harm to the business.

• Example 3: Professional Malpractice with Shared Responsibility

  A new commercial building suffers a significant structural failure shortly after completion. An investigation reveals that both the architect, Emily, and the structural engineer, Frank, made critical errors in their respective design calculations. While Emily's architectural plans had flaws, Frank's engineering review failed to catch these errors and introduced new ones, leading to the collapse. Emily and Frank are cotortfeasors because their separate but contributing professional negligence (a form of malpractice) collectively resulted in the building's failure and the subsequent financial losses.