Warning

Info

Warning

Info

Warning

Info

LSDefine

Simple English definitions for legal terms

joint and several liability

Read a random definition: justice in eyre

A quick definition of joint and several liability:

Joint and several liability means that when two or more people do something wrong and someone gets hurt, each person is responsible for all the harm caused. This means that the person who was hurt can ask any of the wrongdoers to pay for all the damages. Then, the person who paid can ask the other wrongdoers to help pay. This is used in cases where it's hard to figure out who caused the harm, like when someone gets sick from being around asbestos. It helps the person who was hurt because they can still get money even if one of the wrongdoers can't pay. But sometimes it's not fair because someone who didn't do much wrong might have to pay a lot of money because the other wrongdoers can't pay.

A more thorough explanation:

Definition: Joint and several liability is a legal concept where two or more parties are held responsible for a harmful act, and each party is independently liable for the full extent of the injuries caused by the act. This means that if a plaintiff wins a money judgment against the parties collectively, the plaintiff may collect the full value of the judgment from any one of them, who may then seek contribution from the other wrong-doers.

Example: Suppose that A, B, and C negligently injure V. V successfully sues A, B, and C, for $1,000,000. If the court used a joint and several liability system, V could demand that A pay V the full $1,000,000. A could then demand contribution from B and C. However, if B or C could not pay, A would be stuck paying the full $1,000,000.

Explanation: This example illustrates how joint and several liability works in practice. In this case, all three parties are held responsible for the harm caused to V, and any one of them can be made to pay the full amount of damages awarded by the court. This system reduces the risk for the plaintiff that one or more defendants are judgment-proof by shifting that risk onto the other defendants. However, it can also cause inequities, particularly where a relatively blameless defendant is forced to bear the financial burden of an incredibly guilty co-defendant's insolvency.

Other Varieties: There are other types of joint and several liability, such as market share liability and the doctrine of alternative liability. Market share liability is invoked when a good causes an injury, and there are multiple manufacturers of the good. The manufacturers will be held proportionately liable in accordance with their market share in the market of the good. The doctrine of alternative liability applies when it is impossible to tell which tortfeasor caused the plaintiff's injuries. Two independent tortfeasors may each be held liable for the full extent of the plaintiff's injuries, and the burden of proof will shift to the defendants to either absolve themselves of liability or apportion the damages between themselves.

joint and several | joint criminal enterprise

Warning

Info

General

General chat about the legal profession.
main_chatroom
👍 Chat vibe: 0 👎
Help us make LSD better!
Tell us what's important to you
2big2fail
19:46
my favorite french authors are balzac and proust, as basic as that is
1a2b3c4d26z
19:46
basically I read his book and the whole time I read it I liked it so I finished it and I said hm I liked that book written by the author houellebecq
1a2b3c4d26z
19:46
balzac hahaha
2big2fail
19:46
lost illusions is goated
does it take longer to hear back if u applied to scholarships for schools like ucla???
Dkk
19:47
For Houellebecq I have only read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomised
JumpySubsequentDolphin
19:47
you guys should read averroes
also do we think ucla wont do a wave tmw cuz they did a tiny one tonight, can schools do 2 days ina. row
JumpySubsequentDolphin
19:47
perhaps read the incoherence of philosophy first and then read averroes’ response: “the incoherence of the incoherence”
2big2fail
19:47
@Dkk: i read that one. just thought it was boring and not really in touch with reality
JumpySubsequentDolphin
19:47
SPLITTY usually they’re Friday!
Dkk
19:48
@2big2fail: I agree.
HUH then what the heck is this wave tonight ab are they tryna give us an attack???
babycat
19:49
@texaslawhopefully: don’t really remember it but my ibooks library says i read it in 2020. that whole year is a haze.
Dkk
19:51
My favorite book though, The Good Morty: https://archive.org/details/TheGoodMorty
Dkk
20:09
Man, I guess nobody like The Good Morty
2big2fail
20:10
didnt even look at it
Dkk
20:12
R.I.P.
Dkk
20:13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=0uzynaLi4Tg&t=0s such a minor joke, so good to me.
babycat
20:16
I hate The Good Morty
Dkk
20:21
I hate him too. So lame.
Dkk
20:23
If someone has over like a 170 and they report their stats in the 2023-2024 cyle, I really question if they deserved that 170.
Dkk
20:23
I'm gunna report all my shit in the 2025-2026 cycle for now on.
babycat
20:28
Dk have you gotten into any schools yet?
Dkk
20:28
Nope! Heard nothing so far!
babycat
20:28
oh okay it’s coming!
Dkk
20:28
No Wl, No R, No A. It will probably be a while for me cus of my weird stats and softs.
babycat
20:28
me neither but I applied this month
Dkk
20:29
Yeah, I would say you gotta wait until Chrsitmas or early january now.
babycat
20:29
I’ll probably wait another month or two before I start freaking out
LSD+ is ad-free, with DMs, discounts, case briefs & more.