Also known as: actions in concert · act in concert · acting in concert · acted in concert · concerted action
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
An agreement or common design among two or more actors to engage in tortious conduct. Each participant becomes liable for the entire harm caused by any of them when the injury is indivisible.
An agreement or common design among two or more actors to engage in tortious conduct. Each participant becomes liable for the entire harm caused by any of them when the injury is indivisible.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Collaboration between an employee entrusted with responsibility for instruments and another person to effect a fraudulent indorsement. The indorsement binds the employer for purposes of determining the rights of good-faith payors or holders.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Collaboration between an employee entrusted with responsibility for instruments and another person to effect a fraudulent indorsement. The indorsement binds the employer for purposes of determining the rights of good-faith payors or holders.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Amelia Amari and Antonio Alvarado organized a consumer boycott of certain merchants and publicly warned participants of social consequences for noncompliance. Several merchants suffered lost sales. Because the organizers acted in concert to carry out the boycott, each is subject to liability for the full damages traceable to the joint effort.
Avalon Pharmaceuticals and Aether Technologies both produced DES according to an identical formula promoted by industry literature. A daughter of a user developed injuries. The companies' parallel production and marketing decisions constituted action in concert, exposing each to liability for the indivisible harm.
Alexandra Armstrong and Alice Atkins agreed to drag race on a public road. Alexandra's car struck a pedestrian. Because the two acted in concert, Alice is liable for the entire injury even though her vehicle never made contact.
Astra Aerospace and another producer agreed on production quotas to control supply. The arrangement allowed one firm to exclude competitors. Because the companies acted in concert, each bears responsibility for the resulting market harm.
Abigail Alvarez and others planned to stand inside a court-ordered buffer zone around a clinic. Their coordinated presence blocked access. Because the group acted in concert, each participant is subject to contempt sanctions for the collective violation.
Action in concert prevents apportionment when two or more actors agree on a common tortious design and the resulting harm is indivisible. Each participant is then liable for the entire injury regardless of individual contribution.
Supporting sources
No. Courts recognize action in concert when parties plan, assist, or encourage the tortious act pursuant to a common design, even without a formal contract.
Supporting sources
No. The doctrine extends to negligence cases when multiple actors share a common duty and their combined failure produces an indivisible harm, making each liable for the whole injury.
Supporting sources
Arcadia Retail entrusted its payroll clerk with signing and depositing incoming checks. The clerk recruited a friend to help cash forged checks made payable to the company. The bank paid the instruments in good faith. Because the friend acted in concert with the clerk, the indorsements are treated as the company's own, shifting the loss analysis to whether the bank exercised ordinary care.
Under UCC § 3-405(b), an indorsement made by an employee or a person acting in concert with the employee is effective as the employer's indorsement when the employer entrusted the employee with responsibility for the instrument.
Supporting sources
…stand. It is argued by defendants that they are not joint tort feasors, and thus jointly and severally liable, as they were not acting in concert, and that there is not sufficient evidence to show which defendant was guilty of the negligence which caused the injuries—the shooting by Tice or that by Simonson. Tice argues that there is…