Legal Blog:

Deep Pocket

Why do plaintiffs’ lawyers join as a defendant anyone who might have any potential liability to the plaintiff, rather than focussing only on the obvious defendants? That question has an easy answer. Lawyers do not know, at the time that they commence the action, whether, if the plaintiff is successful, it will be able to collect the money owed under the judgment from a particular defendant. The more defendants who are found liable, the greater the chance of collecting the judgment. The task of the plaintiff’s lawyer is to collect money for the plaintiff, not to obtain a piece of paper to hang as an adornment on the recreation room wall.

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