Personal Injury Newsletters

Contribution and Indemnity

When a plaintiff is injured by two or more defendants’ tortious acts that join to cause the injury, each defendant is “jointly and severally liable” for that injury. This means that the plaintiff may recover the entire amount of damages from any of the defendants. The defendants, in turn, may seek contribution or indemnity from each other.

The Jones Act — Definition of a Seaman

The Jones Act applies only to a “seaman” who is injured while working aboard a vessel in navigable waters. In order to be a “seaman” within the meaning of the Jones Act, the worker must meet certain requirements.

The Jones Act — Overview

The Jones Act is a federal law designed to compensate seamen who are injured while working aboard vessels in navigable waters.

The Jones Act — Unseaworthiness Claims

The owner of a vessel has an absolute duty to provide a seaworthy vessel for his crew. Therefore, an injured seaman may sue the owner of the vessel on which the seaman was working if the vessel was unseaworthy at the time of the accident. A vessel is unseaworthy if it, its equipment, or its crew are not reasonably fit for their intended purpose.

Transferred Intent

In order to prove an intentional tort, such as assault or battery, a plaintiff must show that a defendant intended to commit the tort. Under the doctrine of transferred intent, a defendant’s intent to commit a tort against one person may be transferred to another person.