Who I can recover from if I am injured in an accident caused by two different people?

There is a legal doctrine called joint and several liability (legal doctrine that allows a plaintiff to pursue action against any wrongful party when two or more parties are to blame and makes wrongful parties sort out respective responsibilities and payments) that applies in Florida cases where the total damages exceeds $25,000 when two or more people are at fault in causing your injury. However, Florida law has effectively set a cap on damages and fault thresholds depending on how the jury assigns fault in an accident.

• When a plaintiff is found to be at fault, any defendant found to be 10% or less at fault is not subject to joint and several liability. If the plaintiff is found not to be at fault, any defendant less than 10% at fault is also not subject to joint and several liability.
• When a plaintiff is at fault, for any defendant found more than 10% but less than 25% at fault, joint and several liability does not apply to any portion of economic damages exceeding $200,000. If the plaintiff is without fault, the cap on economic damages for applying joint and several liability is $500,000.
• When a plaintiff is at fault, for any defendant found at least 25% but less than 50% at fault, joint and several liability does not apply to any portion of the economic damages in excess of $500,000. If the plaintiff is not at fault, the cap is $1 million.
• When a plaintiff is at fault, for any defendant found more than 50% at fault, joint and several liability does not apply to that portion of economic damages in excess of $1 million. If the plaintiff is found to be without fault, joint and several liability does not apply to the portion of economic damages in excess of $2 million.

To effectively handle an automobile case where your injury has been caused by the negligence of two or more people, your Palm Beach County accident attorney should first distinguish between “economic damages” and noneconomic damages, as defined by the Florida Statute. This is very important at the onset of your case because the doctrine of joint and several liability only applies to “economic damages” and only under specific circumstances. Non economic damages are typically pain and suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, mental anguish, loss of capacity for enjoyment of life, and other nonpecuniary damages.