First Principles of Business Law

2. Multiple tortfeasors

2.1 The importance of identifying all possible defendants

In many cases there is only a single wrongdoer (tortfeasor) and any action in tort will be brought against that person. But in other cases more than one person may be liable as a defendant.  The phrase 'multiple tortfeasors' is used to refer to such persons.  

It is useful to identify every possible defendant so that legal action can be taken against them as appropriate. This can be important if one defendant has no assets and is unlikely to be able to pay any damages awarded. In such cases, it makes obvious sense to pursue an alternative defendant who is better able to pay compensation. 

In the following pages, the difference between 'joint' tortfeasors and 'concurrent' tortfeasors will be explained.