what is jointly and severally 
jointly and severally is a legal term that is used to describe a partnership or any other group of individuals in which each individual shares responsibility equally for example if a judge rules that a number of people are jointly and severally liable for injuries suffered by a plaintiff any one of those people may be pursued for payment of the full amount of the judgment as the word severally implies the phrasing of some contractual agreements may specify that some parties have proportional liability for example a partner with a 10 stake in a business may have a liability that is proportional to that 10 investment jointly and severally is sometimes referred to as joint and several liability understanding jointly and severallyin a legally binding document the term jointly and severally clarifies the responsibility that is shared by each party to an agreement essentially it states that all of those named are obligated to perform all of the actions required under the agreement for example if a bank lends 100 000 to two people jointly and severally both of those people are equally responsible for making sure that the total amount of the loan is repaid to the bank if the loan is in default the bank may choose to pursue either for repayment of the entire outstanding balance in such cases the person who is forced to repay the loan will have some legal recourse against the other person named in the agreement but only after the bank is repaid in full joint and several liability is also cited in legal language for example employers are generally responsible for injuries suffered by their employees on the job if a construction worker ruptures a pipe in a house the homeowner and employer might be held jointly and severally liable for the damages under state law a partnership agreement or articles of partnership help detail the responsibilities of all the partners to avoid any confusion regarding obligations and other practices and to determine who is responsible when liabilities arise jointly and severally in the securities industrythe expression jointly and severally is commonly used in the securities industry in agreements for the underwriting of a new bond or stock issue in such cases the firm that agrees to sell a portion of the total issue is responsible for that agreed upon portion plus a corresponding portion of any unsold securities thus an underwriter who has jointly and severally agreed to be responsible for selling a 30 stake in a new issue must sell 30 of any remaining unsold portion each member of the syndicate is responsible for any leftover shares in proportion to the size of each stake 