Also known as joint and several. In the case of more than one obligor to an obligation, with respect to the claimant, the parties are jointly liable, but as between obligors themselves, the liabilities are several. When one obligor pays the claimant in full on the obligation, that obligor can then pursue the other obligors for a contribution for their share of the liability.

Bank loan agreements that have more than one borrower often state that the borrowers are jointly and severally liable to repay the loans regardless of which borrower actually borrowed the money.

Another example is a stock purchase agreement with more than one seller where the sellers' indemnification obligations may be joint and several so that each seller is liable to the buyer for 100% of the damages (rather than just its proportionate share).