Alternative liability is a legal doctrine that allows a plaintiff to shift the burden of proving causation of their injury to multiple defendants, even though only one of them could have been responsible. The leading case showing the principle of alternative liability in action is Summers v. Tice, where the two defendants negligently shot in the direction of the plaintiff and two pellets caused the plaintiff's injury, one in the right eye and one in the upper lip. In the interests of justice, the innocent plaintiff's case is not defeated because they cannot prove which party was the actual cause of their injury.

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