joint and several

Joint and several is when two or more defendants acting in concert or independently injure the plaintiff and the resulting damage cannot be allocated to a particular defendant; therefore, all of the defendants are liable for the entirety of plaintiff’s injury as well as the entire amount of the judgment. So, each defendant is severally and fully responsible for the harm, even though all defendants are jointly responsible for it. While at first this may seem unfair to defendants since they may all separately be on the hook for damages to the plaintiff even if the defendant was not the only party at fault, this is one of the best ways for the courts to ensure that the plaintiff is made whole for their injury.

For example, if a party injured in an accident sues several parties for causing damages, the court may find that several people were jointly negligent. The entire judgment may then be collected from any of the defendants found responsible, unless the court finds that different amounts of negligence of each defendant contributed to the injury.

In Summers v. Tice, the court ruled that the defendants were jointly and severally liable for the plaintiffs injury because both defendants negligently fired their gun and it was impossible to determine which shot harmed the plaintiff both defendants were jointly and severally liable.

Joint and several liability is also available in jurisdictions that adopted a comparative negligence system. Defendants that had to pay damages to the plaintiff in the amount greater than the percentage he was found responsible for may obtain contribution for the pro rata shares of other defendants.

[Last updated in July of 2023 by the Wex Definitions Team]