The Importance Of Pursuing All Defendants In Irish Litigation

Section 35(1) of the Irish Civil Liability Act 1961, as amended, (the "Act") lists a number of grounds by which a plaintiff's acts or omissions with respect to the liability of concurrent wrongdoers can result in a reduction of the plaintiff's award.  Those acts or omissions include entering into exclusion clauses, limitation clauses, and/or settlements with a concurrent wrongdoer.  

One particular ground that has been the focus of recent judicial comment is the failure of the plaintiff to sue a concurrent wrongdoer, resulting in the claim as against that not-joined wrongdoer becoming statute-barred (pursuant to s. 35(1)(i) of the Act).

A party who has been joined as a defendant to an action can claim that, should the plaintiff succeed in its case, then the plaintiff should be fixed with the liability of the not-joined concurrent wrongdoer. In this way, the joined defendant only becomes liable for his or her share of the plaintiff's total loss, rather than all of