Opinion ID: 1189073
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Against Whom May the Plaintiff Seek Judgment?

Text: All defendants against whom the plaintiff is allowed to recover are jointly and severally liable to the plaintiff for the sum fixed by the factfinder, reduced by the plaintiff's dollar fault percentage of the total fault, [5] and the plaintiff's recovery cannot be diminished by any but his own negligence. [6] Board of County Commissioners of Campbell County v. Ridenour, supra. In Ridenour, we quoted the Wisconsin Supreme Court in Walker v. Kroger Grocery & Baking Co., 214 Wis. 519, 252 N.W. 721, 727-728 (1934), where that court said:    [F]rom every    tortfeasor whose negligence was greater than that of the person seeking to recover, there exists now, by virtue of the statute, a right to recover, subject, however, to the limitation prescribed by the statute, that the damages allowed shall be diminished in proportion to the negligence attributable to the person recovering. That is the only limitation prescribed in respect to the amount recoverable. Otherwise, there is no provision which effects any change in the common-law rule that all tort-feasors who are liable at all are liable to the injured person for the entire amount now recoverable by him. (Emphasis added.) From the foregoing, it becomes apparent that appellant Kirby has misinterpreted the law of comparative negligence when it argues that (a) the plaintiffs' negligence need not be deducted, and (b) the combined percentage that tortfeasors Kirby and Centric's fault bears to the total fault should be held to represent a maximum percentage of any verdict for which they could be held jointly or severally liable. As has been explained above, and as is contemplated by statute (§ 1-1-109(a)) and interpretative case authority, the plaintiffs' percentage of fault, if any, must first be converted to a dollar figure and subtracted from the verdict. If there are defendants whose fault exceeds that of the plaintiff, the plaintiff may proceed against any or all of such tortfeasors jointly or severally for the full amount of the judgment, and, contrary to the position of the appellant Kirby, no other reduction may be made from the verdict figure which reduction is based upon the fault of a tortfeasor. These rules are summarized in XVIII Land & Water L.Rev. 713, 723, Comments, Comparative Negligence Practice in Wyoming, as follows: Comparisons are always one-on-one. Recovery is only allowed when the claimant is less negligent than the party from whom recovery is sought. The claimant's recovery is reduced by the amount of his own negligence but no one else's; therefore, if a party is liable, he is liable for the whole of the claimant's damages reduced by the claimant's own negligence. Causal negligence, and no other legal relationship, defines the parties among whom negligence is apportioned. The existence of a legal claim determines which party's negligence is relevant for purposes of comparison. Finally, a nonparty actor's negligence is relevant for no purpose other than the apportionment of negligence.