What is legal liability?
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I am not a lawyer so another person may have a better answer, but if they don’t I will give a basic understanding.
Liability means you are responsible. So Legal Liability means you are responsible if any legal actions must be taken.
Lets say you run an event that you need to rent a location, then you rent spaces for booths and food trucks. Say someone gets burned and wants to sue. Who is liable?
This is why in some contracts there are legal liabilities. Meaning in the case of an issue, the person in the contract that is legally liable needs to address this issue.
Liability means that you are responsible. Legal refers to the legal system. So if you are legally liable (or have legal liability), you are responsible for what happened, especially when the police/courts get involved.
It means that you can face consequences in a court of law– lawsuits, fines, imprisonment, etc.
Legal liability means someone potentially has a reason to file a court case against you.
For example if you lost control of your car and demolished Bob’s porch, you’re liable for the damage. That is, Bob can sue you and make you buy him a new porch.
You can also have criminal liability, which means you can be prosecuted by the government (which is a little different than being sued by a person or company). For example, if you shoot and kill Bob, you’re criminally liable for murder [1]. That is, the government can prosecute you and put you in jail for a long time.
[1] Assuming you did it on purpose and none of the legal exceptions for murder apply: It wasn’t an accident, it wasn’t self-defense, you weren’t mentally incompetent, etc.
Liable literally just means responsible. It is from Middle French *lier* meaning *to bind*. Someone who is liable is bound by something – duty, authority, inclination.
*Legally* liable tells you what authority is enacting the binding. The law – and therefore the lawmakers, the government, etc.
It means that the liability is being imposed not by an internal moral compass, but by a specific external force holding someone to account.
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