Motor vehicle accidents — like many other accident scenarios — often involve multiple defendants. Bringing an action against a single defendant is quite a bit different than suing multiple defendants, even if the case may seem uncomplicated upon first impression. For example, if you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident where two speeding cars collided with yours (on the highway), then you would have to sue and recover from each defendant separately. Defendants are well aware of the fact that this burden is placed on the injured plaintiff, and may attempt to minimize their liabilities by shifting the greater portion of the blame to the other defendants in the case. Arizona Implements Several Liability, Not Joint Liability In Arizona, historically, the state implemented “joint and several” liability. Joint and several liability gave the injured plaintiff a great deal of power — the plaintiff could sue any one of the defendants who contributed to their injuries, and in turn, recover the full amount of their damages from that one defendant, even if the defendant was only minimally liable for the injuries at-issue. For example, in a case with $1 million in damages, a defendant who was only 10 percent at-fault could be held liable for the entire $1 million! Unfortunately, lawmakers came to believe that the system was unfair to defendants, and abolished “joint and several” liability, replacing it with a system of pure several liability. If you are injured in an accident in Arizona, you will therefore be […]