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Joint and several liability
Where two or more persons are liable in respect of the same liability, in most common law legal systems they may either be:
In several or proportionate liability, parties are liable only for their own obligations.
If parties have joint liability, each of them is liable up to the full amount of the relevant obligation.
However the creditor has only one cause of action; i.e., they can sue for each debt only once. If the claim fails against one party, the bank cannot go on to sue any of the others.
Under joint and several liability or (in the U.S.) all sums, a plaintiff (claimant) is entitled to claim an obligation incurred by any of the promisors from all of them jointly and also from each of them individually. Thus the plaintiff has more than one cause of action: if she pursues one promisor and he fails to pay the sum due, her action is not exhausted and she can pursue a second promisor, and so on.
As far as the promisee is concerned, each promisor is liable for all sums due from any of his co-promisors. However, as between themselves, any one of them who pays more than his fair share is entitled to recover it from the party who is 'really' liable.
In situations of contract, there is usually no controversy over joint and several liability: each party gets what they bargained for. But in tort, the common law position has sometimes been challenged.
A plaintiff may recover all the damages from any of the defendants regardless of their individual share of the liability. The rule is often applied in negligence cases, though it is sometimes invoked in other areas of law.
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Joint and several liability
Where two or more persons are liable in respect of the same liability, in most common law legal systems they may either be:
In several or proportionate liability, parties are liable only for their own obligations.
If parties have joint liability, each of them is liable up to the full amount of the relevant obligation.
However the creditor has only one cause of action; i.e., they can sue for each debt only once. If the claim fails against one party, the bank cannot go on to sue any of the others.
Under joint and several liability or (in the U.S.) all sums, a plaintiff (claimant) is entitled to claim an obligation incurred by any of the promisors from all of them jointly and also from each of them individually. Thus the plaintiff has more than one cause of action: if she pursues one promisor and he fails to pay the sum due, her action is not exhausted and she can pursue a second promisor, and so on.
As far as the promisee is concerned, each promisor is liable for all sums due from any of his co-promisors. However, as between themselves, any one of them who pays more than his fair share is entitled to recover it from the party who is 'really' liable.
In situations of contract, there is usually no controversy over joint and several liability: each party gets what they bargained for. But in tort, the common law position has sometimes been challenged.
A plaintiff may recover all the damages from any of the defendants regardless of their individual share of the liability. The rule is often applied in negligence cases, though it is sometimes invoked in other areas of law.