Many personal injury cases involve a single plaintiff and a single defendant. However, there is no limit on how many people you may sue in one case. In fact, many cases involve multiple at-fault parties who share liability for the plaintiff’s injuries. Cases involving multiple defendants can quickly become complicated, and you should have a lawyer help you.
You may include as many defendants in your case as you believe are necessary. This could mean suing one person, two people, or a dozen or more defendants. Common examples of cases with multiple at-fault parties include multi-vehicle accidents and abuse cases where multiple people work to cover up the abuse. When we prove your claims in court, we must prove that each defendant is responsible. This means that we need enough evidence to meet our burden of proof for every single defendant. If you forget to include a defendant when you file the case, we may be able to amend the pleadings to include them, but this might be difficult if too much time has passed.
Get a free, private case review from our Texas personal injury lawyers by calling The Queenan Law Firm at (817) 476-1797.
Suing for Injuries Caused by Multiple Responsible Parties
When filing a personal injury lawsuit, you may include as many defendants as you believe are necessary. If you believe two people are responsible for your injuries, you may sue them both in the same lawsuit. If you believe ten people are responsible, you may include every single one in your lawsuit.
One of the hardest parts of these kinds of cases is determining how many people or entities share responsibility for your injuries.
If our Houston personal injury lawyers file a lawsuit against multiple parties, we need evidence of each party’s fault. We must prove your claims by a “preponderance of the evidence,” meaning we must show it is more likely than not that the defendant is responsible for your damages. We must meet this burden of proof for every defendant.
How Fault May Be Divided Between Multiple Parties
When multiple parties are implicated in an injury case, fault must be apportioned between all of them, including the plaintiff. Often, fault is based on proof of negligence. Evidence of the defendants’ actions that demonstrate negligence or wrongdoing may be used to assign fault for the overall accident. If the evidence shows that one particular defendant was especially negligent, they may be assigned a greater share of fault.
Comparative fault laws may be used to assign fault to plaintiffs in some cases. Plaintiffs may still recover damages even if they share fault for the accident, as long as their fault does not exceed 50% of the total.
Fault may be apportioned between all the parties involved in the case based on their negligent acts or omissions, conduct that violates applicable legal rules or standards, or any other behavior that contributed to the accident.
Common Examples of Injury Cases Filed Against Multiple Parties
Many different cases may involve multiple at-fault parties. If you believe more than one person is responsible, talk about it with our lawyer. Below are some examples of cases that commonly involve multiple defendants.
Multi-vehicle accidents often involve several at-fault parties. One driver might have been speeding while another ran a red light, and both crashed into you. If many other drivers are involved, we may need accident reconstruction experts to help us determine who is responsible.
Another common example is nursing home abuse. More specifically, a case like this may involve multiple defendants when there is more than one abuser and other nursing home staff members or administrators cover up the abuse or ignore complaints.
Proving Claims in a Personal Injury Case Against Multiple Defendants in Texas
When proving your claims, we must prove the specific elements of negligence for all defendants.
Duty
The duty element refers to the legal obligation the defendant owed you at the time of the accident or incident. Even defendants who are total strangers may owe you a legal duty of care or safety under certain circumstances.
When suing multiple defendants, we must have evidence of the duty owed by each defendant. This can be difficult, as each defendant might owe a different legal duty of care, depending on their relationship to the case.
Breach
The breach is whatever the defendant did or failed to do that constitutes a violation of their legal duty. This can vary greatly from case to case. For example, in a car accident case, running a red light may be a breach of a duty of care and safety.
Each defendant’s breach of duty might be unique. Continuing with the car accident example, the other drivers might have all negligently contributed to the crash, but each driver might have done something completely different. Maybe one was speeding, another ran a red light, and another was texting while driving.
Causation
We must demonstrate how the defendants’ breach of their duties directly caused the accident. If some other force caused the accident, a defendant may not be held responsible even if they negligently breached their duty.
When multiple defendants are involved, there may be multiple causal links we have to establish. Not only that, but each causal link may be intertwined with others, and the facts of the case may be quite complicated.
In some cases, the negligence of one party leads to the negligence of another, creating a chain reaction. In other cases, the parties may be negligent in separate ways, but their combined negligence causes the accident.
Damages
Your damages must be real. You cannot recover damages for hypothetical injuries that could have existed had things been worse. Evidence of your damages may include your testimony, medical records, and proof of expenses.
Can You Add More Defendants Later in the Case?
If we file your case and realize later that another defendant should be included, we may be able to add them by amending the pleadings.
According to Rule 63 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, plaintiffs and defendants may amend their pleadings, including adding new people, by filing amended pleas with the court clerk. However, we may only do so up to 7 days before the trial.
If the case is almost finished, there is a strong chance that we cannot suddenly add a new defendant. If the case is still in pre-trial stages, we may have a better chance of adding new defendants.
In some cases, it might not be possible to include all possible defendants, but we can sue as many as we know about.
What Happens if One Defendant Cannot Pay Your Damages?
If only one defendant in your case is capable of paying your damages, you may still be able to collect the full amount of your damages award.
A defendant is typically liable only for damages equal to their share of fault for the accident, expressed as a whole-number percentage. For example, if a defendant in your case is deemed 25% responsible for the overall accident, they are liable for 25% of the total damages.
Under subsection (b) of this statute, a defendant may be held jointly and severally liable if they are responsible for more than 50% of the accident. This means that if other defendants cannot pay, a defendant responsible for more than 50% of the damages may be liable for the entire damages award.
Get Help Now from Our Texas Personal Injury Lawyers
Get a free, private case review from our Lubbock, TX personal injury lawyers by calling The Queenan Law Firm at (817) 476-1797.