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Joint and Several Liability
What is Joint and Several Liability? The common law rule that holds each defendant found liable in tort litigation is responsible for paying the full amount of a verdict. “Joint”: The defendants are liable together. “Several”: Several Defendants may be pursued for the entire verdict. This rule can then force the defendant to be held liable for the entire risk and expense of forcing the other defendants to pay their shares. Why do we need reform? Joint and Several liability is an outdated common law rule that 35 other states have already recognized as damaging to economic development and working families. Included in the 35 states that have addressed this issue are our neighbors- Ohio , New York and New Jersey . In the current system, which encourages a “lawsuit lottery”, so-called “deep pocket” defendants become targets of personal injury attorney’s regardless of the actual fault assessed by the jury. Most Pennsylvanian’s believe that responsible business owners should only be held financially responsible for their own actions. This reform would simply protect someone who is only 1% responsible for an injury from paying 100% of a jury award. Joint and Several liability reform is an economic development tool that has no budgetary impact on the state. Further, tough economic times increase the need to make sure that responsible business owners are not strapped with unnecessary hidden taxes like spiraling liability costs. Joint and Several liability reform is about fairness. Percentage of fault equals percentage of financial responsibility. A “lawsuit lottery” system hurts local governments, civic organizations, churches and community groups the most. (Example-The estimated direct cost of the civil justice system in the U.S today is $152 billion. That is 2 ½ times what we spend on police and fire protection.) |
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