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Simple English definitions for legal terms
Several liability
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A quick definition of Several liability:
Several liability is a way that courts decide who is responsible for paying damages when more than one person is at fault for an accident. There are different types of several liability, but basically it means that each person is only responsible for the part of the damages that they caused. This is different from joint-and-several liability, where one person could end up paying for everything if the others can't pay. Several liability can be fairer, but it can also mean that the person who was hurt doesn't get all the money they need to pay for their injuries. Some states have made their own rules to try to make things more fair for everyone.
A more thorough explanation:
Several liability is a legal term used to describe a system that courts use to determine responsibility for damages in cases where multiple parties are at fault. This system can take different forms, such as pure several liability or joint-and-several liability.
In a pure several liability system, each defendant is only responsible for the damages they caused. For example, if two drivers caused a car accident and one was found to be 60% responsible while the other was 40% responsible, the injured party could only recover 40% of the damages from the second driver.
In a joint-and-several liability system, each defendant is responsible for the entire amount of damages, even if they were only partially at fault. For example, if three drivers caused a car accident and one was found to be 40% responsible, another 30%, and the third 30%, the injured party could recover the full amount of damages from any of the three drivers, regardless of their individual level of fault.
Many states have created mixed systems that combine elements of both pure several liability and joint-and-several liability. For example, some states only hold defendants jointly and severally liable if the plaintiff was not negligent, while others only hold a defendant jointly and severally liable if they were responsible for a certain percentage of the damages.
In some states, if the plaintiff is found to be partially at fault for the damages, they may not be able to recover any compensation. This is known as contributory negligence and is still used in five states and the District of Columbia.
Imagine that three construction companies are working on a building project and a worker is injured due to their combined negligence. Company A was responsible for 40% of the negligence, Company B was responsible for 30%, and Company C was responsible for 30%. If the worker sues for $100,000 in damages and only Company C is able to pay, under pure several liability, the worker would only be able to recover $30,000. However, under joint-and-several liability, the worker could recover the full $100,000 from Company C, even though they were only 30% responsible.
This example illustrates the difference between pure several liability and joint-and-several liability and how they can impact the amount of compensation a plaintiff can receive.