Under the limitation on liability for non-economic loss, how is liability determined for a defendant with 50% or less fault?

• A. Liable for the entire non-economic loss
• B. Liable only to the extent of his proportionate share
• C. Not liable at all
• D. Liable for twice his proportionate share

Answer: (B)

The key idea is that noneconomic damages are allocated among defendants by fault, rather than being assigned in full to any single party. When a defendant has 50% or less of the fault, their liability for the non-economic loss is limited to their proportional share of that loss. In other words, you multiply the total noneconomic harm by the defendant’s percentage of fault to determine what they must pay. This keeps liability in line with each party’s degree of responsibility and avoids making a party pay more than their fair share.

So, if the noneconomic loss is, say, a certain amount and this defendant is 40% at fault, they would be responsible for 40% of that amount. They’re not on the hook for the entire loss, nor are they liable for more than their share. The other options would imply different liability rules (full liability, no liability, or doubling), which aren’t consistent with the proportional limitation described.