Section 4 Current State of the Law of Joint and Several Liability

• Library: Damages 2012

Currently, Missouri follows a system of pure comparative fault, which allows a jury to assess the percentage of fault to all parties at the trial, including the plaintiff. Each party is assessed liability based on the percentage of fault assigned by the trier of fact.

After a jury allocates fault, § 537.067, RSMo Supp. 2011, dictates whether the liability is joint or several. This statute provides that the liability of a particular defendant for payment of the judgment is only several unless that defendant...