San Diego Personal Injury Lawyers
A Comparative Negligence Overview

People are injured because of accidents, mistakes, recklessness or even intentional conduct every day. When this occurs in San Diego, a set of laws governs the situation if the person who has been injured decides that he or she needs to protect his or her legal rights. This is the age-old concept of personal injury law liability, but the reality is that in many situations, the question of fault is not one where only one party is to blame and the other is completely free of responsibility.

When these situations arise, California law has accounted for it by way of instituting what's known as a comparative fault or comparative negligence system. Below is a brief overview of this comparative fault system, but the bottom line is that before you attempt to handle this difficult question by yourself, seek the help of an experienced San Diego personal injury lawyer.

California Comparative Fault - The Legal Standard

Basically, California follows what's known as the 'pure' form of comparative fault. Pure comparative negligence basically means that in situations in which both parties are partially at fault, the jury will decide as a question of fact as to which party bears which percentage of the blame for the injuries and damage that occurred.

The system is known as pure because even if the plaintiff who brings the legal action is more than 50% at fault, he or she will still recover damages commensurate with the damages sought minus the fault percentage. For instance, if someone is injured and sues the defendant for $1 million and the jury finds that the plaintiff was 60% at fault for what occurred, the plaintiff would still recover $400,000.

This is unlike other states that follow what's known as a 'modified' system of comparative fault. In the modified system, the same procedure plays out in court, but as a matter of law the plaintiff will only recover damages if he or she was not more than 50% at fault for what occurred. If he or she was more than 50% at fault, the plaintiff recovers nothing.

While this may seem relatively simple, it in reality is not. Persuading a jury in terms of deciding on a percentage of fault is something that takes skill and experience. If you or someone you love has been harmed by someone else, you need to contact the San Diego personal injury lawyers at Mitchell | Gilleon today to schedule a free initial consultation.