on August 17th, 2016
If you are
partially at fault for a fall you may still be able to recover damages from a
property owner. In most states your recovery will be reduced by your percentage
of fault for the injury. Different states have different rules on how this
applies. Some states use a strict “contributory” negligence standard of
liability based on your actions.
Most states, however, have switched to varying
levels of a “comparative” negligence standard that balances the award against
contributing fault for the injury.
·Contributory Negligence: In states that follow the
Contributory Negligence standard, if you are even 1% at fault you cannot
recover any damages.
·Pure Comparative Negligence: Under the “pure” comparative
fault rule, which is used in New York, no matter who is more or less at fault,
the property owner will pay the amount that equals the percentage of their
contribution to the injury. If you are 90% at fault and the property owner is
10% at fault, your recovery will be 10% of the awarded damages.
·Modified Comparative
Negligence: New Jersey and
Pennsylvania use the “Modified” or “51%” rule. Under this standard, if the
injured party is at least 51% at fault, the property owner pays nothing. If the
injured party is less than 51% at fault, that person can recover the percentage
of negligence assigned to the property owner. For example, if you are
determined to be 40% at fault for the accident, your award will be 60% of the
amount deemed appropriate for the injury.
There are also
complex issues associated with claims against more than one person or entity
regardless of amount of contribution to the injury. In some cases, a plaintiff
can recover the damage award from only one party in the case—the party at
fault. In other cases they can recover all or part from any of the parties. For
example, let’s say you file a claim against two property owners—the store owner
and the owner of the building where the store is located.
In court your
comparative liability is determined to be 20%, and each of the property owners
is allocated 40% responsibility for the injury. Instead of trying to collect
40% from each owner, you may be able to collect 80% from one or the other and
let them wrangle with each other to be reimbursed. This makes it easier for a
winning plaintiff to be “made whole” as quickly as possible. In these cases it
is even more important to have an experienced attorney who can determine
whether or not there is a good cause of action, analyze the chance for
recovery, and make the case against more than one defendant.
If you have been
involved in a slip and fall accident it is recommended that you consult with an
experienced attorney in your area.
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