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Yes, special damages are joint and several.
In California, “damages” means any compensatory monetary recovery for loss. See Civil Code § 3281.
“Damages” means money for injury to your body or property (the loss).
There are different types of “damages” depending on the lawsuit. But generally, there are “special damages,” which is money for medical bills and lost wages, and “general damages,” which is money for pain and suffering.
“Joint damages” means holding multiple defendants responsible for the loss. Each defendant is responsible for the entire amount of damages.
Here’s an example. Your landlord hires an unlicensed contractor. That contractor negligently repairs stairs to your unit. You fall down those stairs and are injured. You have hospital bills and are in pain. Say your damages are $100,000, the total of $50,000 in hospital bills and $50,000 in pain and suffering.
“Several liability” means holding each defendant responsible for your damages to their share of your damages.
In California, “general damages” are subject to “several liability.” That means you can only collect money for your pain and suffering based on a defendant’s share of responsibility. If the contractor was 25% responsible, you could collect $12,500 from him (25% of $50,000 in pain and suffering).
“Special damages,” however, are joint and several under a law known as Proposition 51. That means you can collect your money for medical bills or lost wages from any defendant. And you can collect the entire amount. Even though the contractor was 25% at fault, you could collect the entire $50,000 in medical bills from him.
There’s a lot more to this discuss, and some strategy on how best to use it.
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