Negligence - Breach of Duty - Assessing Responsibility When More than One Person is Negligent

Question 1

Comparative Fault

Answer 1

If the plaintiff is partially at fault, the damages she receives is reduced based on her percentage of the fault

Question 2

Joint and Several Liability

Answer 2

A plaintiff can sue one tortfeasor for the damages that multiple tortfeasors cause, or sue all the tortfeasors but enforce the judgment on only one of them. Then, the defendant can sue the other tortfeasors for the percentage of the damage they caused. This protects plaintiffs from suing people who have no money.

Question 3

Several Liability

Answer 3

A plaintiff sues all the tortfeasors for the harm each caused.

Question 4

Type of Damages to Decide Liability

Answer 4

Some states reserved joint and several liability for cases involving economic damages and use several liability for cases with noneconomic damages

Question 5

Threshold Percentages to Decide Liability

Answer 5

Some states only use joint and several liability if the defendant’s percentage of liability is over a certain threshold percentage

Question 6

Reapportionment of Uncollectable Shares to Decide Liability

Answer 6

If one defendant can’t pay, some states will reallocate that defendant’s percentage of the damages to the other defendants

Question 7

Apportioning Damages to Non-Parties

Rule 14(a)(1))

Answer 7

Some jurisdictions will apportion damages to non-parties of the suit who are at fault.