Civil lawsuits may involve a single defendant or a whole host of defendants, and they might all share varying degrees of fault or blame. In such cases, laws regarding joint and several liability might be applied, and these rules may determine how you recover damages from the defendants. While some form of joint and several liability exists in most jurisdictions, Arkansas has some unique rules of its own.
Normally, joint and several liability means multiple defendants may be liable for paying all recoverable damages to a plaintiff. Put another way, each defendant is responsible for paying 100% of the damages. Arkansas has somewhat more limited laws on the matter. Defendants may be severally liable, but not jointly. Defendants in Arkansas are only responsible for paying their fair share of the damages, not all of them. To do this, courts must determine each defendant’s share of blame, usually reflected as a percentage.
Call our Arkansas personal injury attorneys at (479) 316-0438 for a free case evaluation, especially if you plan on suing multiple defendants.
What is Joint and Several Liability in Arkansas?
Joint and several liability is a rather broad legal concept affecting how damages are recovered in cases with multiple defendants. Generally, joint and several liability refers to when more than one defendant is held liable for a plaintiff’s damages. While each defendant might share differing degrees of fault or blame, both or all defendants are considered equally responsible for paying damages.
For example, suppose a plaintiff is suing for a car accident they believe was caused by three other drivers. Next, suppose the jury held all three defendants jointly and severally liable for the damages. Even though each defendant might have contributed to the accident differently, and one might be more to blame than the others, all are responsible for payment. If two defendants are insolvent, meaning they cannot pay, the plaintiff may seek 100% of the damages from the remaining defendant.
Arkansas has codified laws regarding how the issue of joint and several liability is handled. Essentially, defendants in Arkansas may be severally liable, but not jointly. This tends to protect defendants more than it helps plaintiffs, as detailed below, but our Russellville, AR personal injury attorneys may assist you in making sure you get all the compensation you rightfully deserve.
How Arkansas Law Affects Joint and Several Liability
In Arkansas, multiple defendants may be sued for the same cause of action and held liable severally but not jointly. In short, this means that each defendant may be assigned a percentage of blame for the overall damages. Unlike typical joint and several liability rules, each defendant is only responsible for paying their fair share, whatever that might be.
Several But Not Joint
Arkansas’s joint and several liability rules are described under Ark. Code § 16-55-201(a). Under this law, in legal actions for personal injuries, property damage, medical injuries, or wrongful death, each defendant may be severally liable but not jointly for compensatory and punitive damages.
This means multiple defendants may be held liable for a single act of harm or wrongdoing, but their share of the blame may not be equal. Instead, defendants are responsible for paying damages proportionate to their share of blame. This bucks the more traditional joint and several liability rules where multiple defendants may be equally responsible for paying for damages.
Under subsection (b), defendants are only responsible for their fair share of the damages, and a separate several judgment may be rendered against each defendant for their specific amount of damages. According to subsection (c), the court may determine the amount of the judgment against each defendant by multiplying the total damages recoverable by the plaintiff by the percentage of each defendant’s fault. For example, if the plaintiff is entitled to recover $100,000 and one defendant is found to share 30% of the fault, that defendant is liable for only $30,000 of the total damages.
Assessing Percentages of Fault
Figuring out joint and several liability can be tricky, especially calculating each defendant’s share or percentage of fault. According to § 16-55-202(a), each defendant’s fault is determined by the fact finder, which may be the jury in many cases or the judge in a bench trial. The fact finder may consider the fault of all persons or entities who might have played a hand in the accident regardless of whether they were or could have been named a party to the lawsuit.
This may be important in cases where some defendants remained at an accident scene while others fled. The defendants who stayed and were subsequently sued should not have to be assigned the blame of the other person who unlawfully fled the scene.
Defendants Acting in Concert
What happens when multiple defendants act in concert? According to § 16-55-205(a), if two or more defendants worked together to do something that caused the plaintiff harm, both or all defendants may be equally liable and equally responsible for paying the plaintiff’s damages. Because the defendants worked together, their share of the blame is entangled together, and they are equally responsible regardless of how much each defendant contributed.
How Joint and Several Liability Affects Plaintiffs’ Ability to Recover Damages in Arkansas
Arkansas laws surrounding joint and several liability might hinder a plaintiff from recovering the full extent of their damages. Because defendants are only liable for paying their designated portion of the plaintiff’s damages, if one or more defendants are insolvent, the plaintiff cannot collect 100% of their damages.
For example, a plaintiff in a car accident case might be entitled to recover $50,000, and the two defendants are each liable for half. If one defendant is insolvent, the other is still only liable for paying $25,000. The plaintiff cannot recover the full extent of their damages.
Contact Our Arkansas Personal Injury Attorneys for Legal Assistance
If you plan on suing multiple defendants, call our Rogers, AR personal injury attorneys at (479) 316-0438 for a free case evaluation.