Also known as: joint and several liability · jointly and severally · joint and several · joint liability · several liability
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Liability imposed on multiple parties such that each is responsible for the full amount of an obligation or damages. Recovery of the entire sum may be obtained from any one of them.
Jessica Jacobs and Jada Jones each fire a shotgun toward a quail during a hunt. One pellet strikes Jamal Jefferson in the eye, but the evidence cannot identify which gun caused the injury. Both women are held jointly and severally liable for the full damages because neither can prove her shot missed.
Jefferson Trust and Jackson Mutual form a limited partnership that borrows from a bank and later defaults. The bank sues the general partner alone and recovers the entire unpaid balance because the general partner is jointly and severally liable for all partnership obligations.
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Jaffe Securities and Jacobs Shipping operate a general partnership that leases warehouse space. When the partnership misses rent payments, the landlord sues one partner for the full amount owed and obtains judgment because all partners are jointly and severally liable for partnership debts.
John Jones tells a supplier he is a partner with Jillian James in a new firm. Relying on the statement, the supplier extends credit. Jones is held jointly and severally liable with James for the unpaid invoices even though no formal partnership was formed.
Joy Jiang consents to being held out as a partner in an existing firm. A client extends a loan in reliance on that representation. Jiang becomes jointly and severally liable with the consenting partners for repayment of the loan.
Marjorie signs a multi-year equipment lease on behalf of a corporation she knows has not yet been formed. The lessor sues Marjorie personally and recovers the full amount of unpaid rent because she acted knowing no corporation existed.
It permits the plaintiff to recover the entire judgment from any one of the liable parties. The paying party may then seek contribution from the others.
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No. A person who becomes a partner is not personally liable for obligations incurred before admission unless the facts show a later assumption of that debt.
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A person who consents to being represented as a partner is jointly and severally liable to third parties who reasonably rely on the representation and extend credit or enter transactions.
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Yes. Anyone who purports to act for a corporation knowing it has not yet been formed is jointly and severally liable for all liabilities created while so acting.
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When multiple negligent actors cause a single indivisible injury and causation cannot be apportioned, each actor may be held jointly and severally liable for the full damages.
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…with Burger King and had infringed Burger King's trademarks and service marks, the court entered judgment against them, jointly and severally, for $228,875 in contract damages. The court also ordered them "to immediately close Burger King Restaurant Number 775 from continued operation or to immediately give the keys and…