Alternative liability is a

legal doctrine A legal doctrine is a framework, set of rules, Procedural law, procedural steps, or Test (law), test, often established through precedent in the common law, through which judgments can be determined in a given legal case. For example, a doctrine ...

that allows a plaintiff to shift the burden of proving causation of their injury to multiple defendants, even though only one of them could have been responsible. The

leading case Landmark court decisions, in present-day common law legal systems, establish precedents that determine a significant new legal principle or concept, or otherwise substantially affect the interpretation of existing law. "Leading case" is commonly u ...

showing the principle of alternative liability in action is ''

Summers v. Tice ''Summers v. Tice''(1948), is a seminal California Supreme Court tort law decision relating to the issue of liability where a plaintiff cannot identify with specificity which among multiple defendants caused his harm. The case established the ...

'', where the two defendants negligently shot in the direction of the plaintiff and two pellets caused the plaintiff's injury, one in the right eye and one in the upper lip. In the interests of justice, the innocent plaintiff's case is not defeated because they cannot prove which party was the actual cause (but-for cause) of their injury.

Requirements

The doctrine requires that the plaintiff bring all possible defendants into court and that the

plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...

show the defendants all breached a duty of reasonable care. The burden then shifts to the defendants to provide evidence of who caused the injury.

Rationale

The underpinning of this doctrine is that a plaintiff should not be barred from seeking recovery simply because they does not know who caused their injury. The defendants are usually the parties in the best position to have the relevant information. Distinguish alternative liability from the smoke-out function of

res ipsa loquitur ''Res ipsa loquitur'' (Latin: "the thing speaks for itself") is a doctrine in common law and Roman-Dutch law jurisdictions under which a court can infer negligence from the very nature of an accident or injury in the absence of direct evidence on ...

seen in the leading case of ''

Ybarra v. Spangard ''Ybarra v. Spangard''25 Cal.2d 486, 154 P.2d 687 (Cal.1944) was a leading case in California discussing the exclusive control element of res ipsa loquitur. "Where a plaintiff receives unusual injuries while unconscious and in the course of medic ...

''. In ''Ybarra'', the plaintiff brought all defendants who could have ''possibly'' been negligent (breached a duty of reasonable care) so that they could show which party actually was negligent. Thus, in the smoke-out function of ''res ipsa'', the burden is shifted on the defendants to show ''negligence'', whereas in alternative liability all defendants are all shown to have breached a duty of reasonable care and the plaintiff shifts the burden to show ''causation''.

References

Legal doctrines and principles Public liability {{law-term-stub