Byrd and Scott favor outright elimination of joint and several liability, meaning that defendants could not be held liable for a larger percentage of fault than what a jury assigns them.
42.
Joint and several liability is most relevant in tort claims, whereby a plaintiff may recover all the damages from any of the defendants regardless of their individual share of the liability.
43.
Some of the worst scams in recent history would have left the defrauded investors with little or no recourse if the " joint and several liability " limit had been in effect.
44.
The bill also exempts small businesses from joint and several liability, where one defendant only partially liable for non-economic damages such as pain and suffering can end up paying all damages.
45.
Neither comparative negligence nor contributory negligence should be confused with joint and several liability, which generally holds each of two or more culpable defendants responsible for all the damages sustained by a plaintiff.
46.
Defenders of the principle of joint and several liability further argue that it protects victims from being under-compensated if one of the defendants cannot pay his or her share of proportionate liability.
47.
The Lindsey-Sperling memo lays out a number of different ways states have tackled joint and several liability and the possibility that Clinton could adopt one of the those statutes, the officials said.
48.
They also propose several liability for non-economic losses, so that defendants, however deep their pockets, would be liable only in proportion to the share of damage for which they were deemed responsible.
49.
And under joint and several liability, a company can be forced to pay for cleanup activities at an entire Superfund site, even if it contributed only a small share of the contamination at the site.
50.
The Federal District Court in Brooklyn has several liability cases pending against American cigarette companies and Jack B . Weinstein, a senior judge, is well known for handling many cases seeking damages from tobacco companies.
