Chapter 18-4 Joint and Several Liability

• Jurisdiction: United States

18-4 Joint and Several Liability

Where a defendant is determined to be jointly and severally liable for the claimants' damages, a plaintiff may recover all damages from that defendant.⁴¹ A defendant is jointly and severally liable if the jury assigns greater than 50% of responsibility to that defendant.⁴²

A defendant is also jointly and severally liable if with specific intent to do harm to others he or she acted in concert with another person and engaged in conduct that was the proximate cause of the damages recoverable by the claimant and such conduct constituted any one of the following crimes as defined by the Texas Penal Code: murder; capital murder; aggravated kidnapping; aggravated assault; sexual assault; aggravated sexual assault; injury to a child, the elderly or disabled; forgery; commercial bribery; misapplication of fiduciary property or property of financial institution; securing execution of document by deception; fraudulent destruction, removal or concealment of writing; continuous sexual abuse of a child or children; and theft constituting a third degree felony or higher.⁴³

In order for a defendant to be jointly and severally liable based on certain violations of the penal code, the defendant must have acted with specific intent to do harm to others.⁴⁴ This standard is met when it is the defendant's "conscious effort or desire to engage in the conduct for the purpose of doing substantial harm to others."⁴⁵ The jury may not be told that the conduct is based on violation of the penal code.

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Notes:

^[41] Gregory J. Lensing, Proportionate Responsibility and Contribution Before and After the Tort Reform of 2003, 35 Tex. Tech. L. Rev. 1125, 1132 (2004).

^[42] Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 33.013(b)(1).

^[43] Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 33.013(b)(2)(A)-(N).

^[44] Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 33.013(b)(2).

^[45] Tex. Civ...