What Does It Mean to Be Liable?
Liability means someone—another person, an employer, a manufacturer, or some other entity—failed to act with reasonable care and, as a result, caused someone else to suffer harm. In legal terms, the liable party is the one responsible for “making the victim whole” again, which typically means paying both economic damages and non-economic damages.
A person can be held liable for:
- Negligence – Failing to act with reasonable care (e.g., a driver running a red light)
- Recklessness – Acting with disregard for others’ safety (e.g., drunk driving)
- Intentional Harm – In rare cases, like assault or fraud
- Strict Liability – Where negligence or fault are irrelevant
Can More Than One Person Be Liable?
Yes, liability can be shared among multiple parties, including the injured person. This is called comparative fault, contributory negligence, or apportioned liability, and it plays a major role in determining how much compensation a person can receive. Each state has its own rules for how liability is divided; below, we take a closer look.
Modified Comparative Fault
Many states, including Texas, use a system known as modified comparative fault. Under this rule:
- You can only recover compensation if you are less than a certain percentage at fault (usually 50 or 51%).
- Your total recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault.
- If you are found more than the allowable percentage at fault (e.g., 50% or more at fault), you cannot recover anything.
Here’s how it works in practice:
- If you are 40% at fault, and the other party is 60% at fault, you can recover 60% of your damages. If total damages are $100,000, you would receive $60,000.
- If you are 55% at fault, and the threshold for modified comparative negligence is 50%, you recover nothing, even if the other party is also partially at fault.
- If the threshold for comparative negligence is 51%, and you and the other party are each 50% at fault, you can recover 50% of your damages. If your damages total $100,000, you can receive $50,000.
This system makes fault percentages extremely important in Texas personal injury cases. Even a few percentage points can mean the difference between receiving compensation and walking away with nothing.
Pure Comparative Fault
Some states, including Louisiana and New Mexico, follow a pure comparative fault system. Here’s how it works:
- Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, no matter how high that percentage is.
- There is no 50 or 51% cutoff like there is in modified comparative fault states, like Texas.
For example:
- If you are 75% at fault, and the other party is 25% at fault, you can still recover 25% of your damages. If your total losses are $100,000, you can receive $25,000.
While this system allows more injured people to recover something, even if they were partly or mostly at fault, it still reduces compensation based on fault.
Contributory Negligence
A small number of states still follow a system called contributory negligence, which is much stricter than either comparative fault system. Under contributory negligence:
- If you are found to be even 1% at fault for the accident, you cannot recover any compensation from the other party.
- This rule bars recovery entirely, regardless of how minimal your share of the blame might be.
Here’s a realistic example:
- If you are 5% at fault, and the other party is 95% at fault, you would receive nothing—even though the other party was clearly more responsible for what happened.
This approach is often criticized as harsh and outdated, but it is still the law in a handful of states, including Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia, as well as Washington, D.C.
Contributory negligence laws create a high-stakes situation for plaintiffs. Defendants and their insurers often look for any possible way to pin even a sliver of blame on the injured person in order to avoid paying compensation.
How Do You Prove Liability in a Personal Injury Case?
To prove liability in a personal injury case, you generally need to establish four key elements:
- Duty of Care – The other party had a legal duty to act reasonably and avoid causing harm.
- Breach of Duty – They failed to meet that duty (e.g., by acting carelessly or violating a law).
- Causation – Their failure to meet the duty of care directly caused your injuries.
- Damages – You suffered actual harm as a result (physical, financial, emotional, etc.).
To prove each of these elements, you and your legal team must bring forward solid evidence to support your claim. Such evidence often includes accident reports, witness testimony, expert opinions, surveillance footage, and medical records.
Liability in Wrongful Death Cases
In wrongful death claims, liability works much the same way as in other personal injury cases. The difference is that the lawsuit is brought by surviving family members, not the injured party. To succeed, they must show that someone else’s negligence, recklessness, or wrongful act caused their loved one’s death, and that the loss resulted in measurable damages, such as funeral costs, lost future earnings, or the emotional loss of companionship.
Just like in personal injury cases, the percentage of liability matters. If the deceased is found partially at fault for the incident that ultimately led to their death, compensation can be reduced accordingly, depending on the state in which the claim is filed and the comparative or contributory negligence rule that applies. This makes working with a skilled attorney critical for families seeking justice and fair compensation.
Why Liability Matters
Liability determines who pays and how much they pay. The greater the liability assigned to another party, the more compensation the injured person can receive, and if liability is shared, compensation is adjusted accordingly—sometimes leading to the loss of thousands of dollars in compensation.
Liability is at the heart of every personal injury case because, without liability, there is no legal basis for compensation.
For injury victims, understanding how liability works can help set realistic expectations and clarify the importance of strong legal representation. In complex cases, especially those involving multiple parties or disputed fault, the outcome often comes down to how well liability is argued and supported with evidence.
Talk to Our Personal Injury Lawyers Today
Understanding the legal concept of liability is the first step in pursuing a personal injury claim. If you or a loved one were harmed in an accident, you don’t have to figure it all out alone. A qualified attorney from Arnold & Itkin can evaluate the facts of your case, explain how fault might be assigned, and help you pursue the compensation you’re entitled to under the law. We're here to help you fight for everything you're owed.
Call us today at (888) 493-1629 for a free consultation. You don’t pay anything unless we win your case.
