Information on Suing Multiple People for Your Personal Injury?
As an accident victim, you have a right to sue all those who are responsible for your injuries. If you can prove that you were hurt because of the negligence of one or more individuals, they may all be held responsible for compensating you for your losses.
Benefits of Suing Multiple People for Your Personal Injury?
Sometimes victims incur very substantial damages as a result of an injury. For example, a spinal cord injury resulting from an accident can result in millions of dollars in medical bills and leave you unable to work. Whenever your damages are significant, the ability to sue multiple people can help to ensure that you recover full compensation for your losses.
When Can You Sue Multiple People for Your Personal Injury?
The law allows you to recover your losses from multiple defendants, as long as you can prove that each defendant is somehow responsible for your losses. For example:
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If you are a victim of a truck accident, you may be able to sue both the trucker and the trucking company for negligently causing the accident in which you were injured.
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If you are the plaintiff in premises liability case, you may be able to sue both the landlord and the tenant of the premises where your injury took place.
The Law of Agency
You can sue multiple defendants because each one was negligent and is responsible for their own actions. But, you can also sue multiple defendants because one was the employee of the other. Agency law makes employers responsible for the actions of their on-duty employees. In these cases, you are not required to prove that the employer was also negligent, just that the employee was.
Joint and Several Liability
When you sue multiple defendants, it is important to determine if the defendants will be “jointly” or “severally” liable for your losses. Joint liability means that all of the defendants are responsible for all of your losses. Several liability means that the defendants are only liable for the portion of your losses that they caused.
Joint and Several Liability means that you can pursue a case against a defendant, as if the defendant is jointly liable and that a defendant can, in turn, pursue a case against others who were also responsible for compensating you.
How Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help
An experienced personal injury lawyer can help identify all of the defendants who could be held responsible for your losses and file a claim for damages against each one. Most personal injury attorneys, work on a contingency fee basis. This means that you will not have to pay any money unless they recover damages on your behalf.
Call The Hayes Firm: Attorney Finding Service for help with finding a qualified personal injury attorney in your area. Call us at 1-800-603-6833, or contact us via our contact form to arrange a free initial consultation.
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