Your missing the strategy of the plaintiffs' attorney.
Plaintiffs' attorneys typically work on contingency (no charge unless we win), so they are trying to minimize their expenses.
They name everyone because they need to. Until discovery is completed, you really don't know what happened, and the initial filings (which are what gets reported) are often inaccurate.
The defendants are being asked to write some rather large checks, and even if it looks like they are at fault from the original filing, they are going to verify before writing that check.
During the discovery process evidence is produced and examined by experts hired by the attorneys.
All the involved parties see what is going on and work out the facts of the case.
Once the attorneys understand the technical and legal issues, they decide how to proceed.
Often there is one defendant who is a clear and obvious target, and everyone else is pointing their fingers at the responsible party. If the plaintiff is lucky that party has a big insurance policy. In that situation the responsible party's insurance carrier sees a gang fight coming and settles quickly.
The remainder of the defendants get out with a small go the F away check to the plaintiff or file for summary judgement and get out that way. A settlement that is little more than extortion is often less expensive than preparing for a trial and mitigates the risk of a large jury settlement.
It gets nasty when the plaintiff has made a contribution to the incident, that would reduce or eliminate their right to compensation.
Remember, juries do not like a "blame the victim" defense strategy, even when the plaintiff is at fault and actually victimizing the defendants. Attorneys on both sides know this and have to consider that risk before proceeding to trial.
It takes a lot of cash to get in front of a jury, and usually if it goes to a jury decision there are legitimate reasons to think either side could prevail.
Plaintiffs' attorneys typically work on contingency (no charge unless we win), so they are trying to minimize their expenses.
They name everyone because they need to. Until discovery is completed, you really don't know what happened, and the initial filings (which are what gets reported) are often inaccurate.
The defendants are being asked to write some rather large checks, and even if it looks like they are at fault from the original filing, they are going to verify before writing that check.
During the discovery process evidence is produced and examined by experts hired by the attorneys.
All the involved parties see what is going on and work out the facts of the case.
Once the attorneys understand the technical and legal issues, they decide how to proceed.
Often there is one defendant who is a clear and obvious target, and everyone else is pointing their fingers at the responsible party. If the plaintiff is lucky that party has a big insurance policy. In that situation the responsible party's insurance carrier sees a gang fight coming and settles quickly.
The remainder of the defendants get out with a small go the F away check to the plaintiff or file for summary judgement and get out that way. A settlement that is little more than extortion is often less expensive than preparing for a trial and mitigates the risk of a large jury settlement.
It gets nasty when the plaintiff has made a contribution to the incident, that would reduce or eliminate their right to compensation.
Remember, juries do not like a "blame the victim" defense strategy, even when the plaintiff is at fault and actually victimizing the defendants. Attorneys on both sides know this and have to consider that risk before proceeding to trial.
It takes a lot of cash to get in front of a jury, and usually if it goes to a jury decision there are legitimate reasons to think either side could prevail.
