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Simple English definitions for legal terms
joint and several
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A quick definition of joint and several:
Joint and several liability means that when two or more people cause harm to someone and it's hard to figure out who caused how much harm, all of them are responsible for the whole harm. This means that each person is fully responsible for the harm, even though they are all responsible for it together. For example, if a group of people caused a car accident and hurt someone, the injured person can ask any of them to pay for the whole harm. This rule also applies in places where the court decides how much each person is responsible for the harm. If one person pays more than their share, they can ask the others to help pay for it.
A more thorough explanation:
Joint and several liability is a legal term that means when two or more people or entities are responsible for causing harm to someone, they are all equally responsible for paying the damages. This means that each person or entity can be held responsible for the entire amount of damages, even if they were only partially responsible for causing the harm.
For example, if a group of friends are driving in a car and get into an accident that injures someone, all of the friends can be held jointly and severally liable for the damages. This means that the injured person can choose to sue any one of the friends for the entire amount of damages, and that friend would be responsible for paying the entire amount, even if they were not the one driving the car.
Another example of joint and several liability is when a construction company and an engineering firm work together on a project that causes damage to a neighboring property. Both the construction company and the engineering firm can be held jointly and severally liable for the damages, meaning that the property owner can choose to sue either one of them for the entire amount of damages.
Joint and several liability is often used in cases where it is difficult to determine exactly who was responsible for causing the harm, or when multiple parties were involved in causing the harm. It allows the injured party to recover damages from any one of the responsible parties, rather than having to pursue each party separately.