1. Joint and Several Liability

Under the rule of joint and several liabilities, each negligent defendant is full responsible for a plaintiff’s damages, assuming that the defendants caused an indivisible harm. However, liability is several only where defendant cause distinct or separable components of a plaintiff’s harm.

 

2. Indemnity and Contribution

(1) The contribution and indemnity are the primary methods by which jointly- responsible tortfeasors seek reimbursement from one another.

Indemnity is a rule that compels one tortfeasor to completely reimburse another who had paid a judgment to a plaintiff. Often, the rule applies where one party has contractually agreed to reimburse another. However, indemnity also applies in several other circumstances. For example, a defendant whose liability was premised on vicarious liability can seek indemnity from the “active” tortfeasor who actually harmed the plaintiff. In addition, product retailers or wholesalers sometimes can seek indemnity against manufactures in a products liability action.

(2) As an “all or nothing” rule, indemnity is consistent with traditional tort principles such as contributory negligence and joint and several liability. This is not true of contribution, which envisions joint tortfeasors sharing responsibility for a plaintiff’s harm. As recently as the 1970s, only a handful of American jurisdictions permitted contribution absent legislative action. Today, however, a majority of states have enacted statutes that permit contribution on a comparative basis; such statutes are consistent with states’ adoption of comparative fault.