In Florida negligence actions, the laws of comparative fault generally apply. Thus, in a court setting, a jury is to apportion fault between the parties, and the parties can include both the defendant AND the plaintiff. Thus, in a car accident case where Mary Martin sues John Jones, for example, a jury can find that BOTH cars are at fault. In that situation, the jury must apportion fault, meaning they must then divide up 100 percent between the two cars in terms of who bears more or less responsibility – like 50 percent to Mary and 50 percent to John or 10 percent to Mary and 90 percent to John and so forth. In a fall case, similarly, if Eric Edwards sues Sally’s supermarket – a jury can find both the supermarket AND Eric to be at fault. So if, for example, Sally’s Supermarket argues that Eric is partly at fault for not seeing the water on the floor that had leaked from the refrigerator, a jury can factor that into the liability decision. Again, if they find the Supermarket is at fault for having the leaky refrigerator but that Eric should have seen it, then the jury would generally have to apportion fault – like 50 percent to Sally’s Supermarket and 50 percent to Eric or 75 percent to Sally’s supermarket and 25 percent to Eric. In any situation where the fault is being apportioned in Florida, generally the damages are reduced by the fault of the plaintiff. So if the jury finds that Eric’s damages are $100,000 but that he bears 50 percent responsibility, then ultimately Eric gets a judgment against Sally’s Supermarket for $50,000.
Please call Attorney Gary J. Drucker at the law firm today for a free consultation. Drucker Law Offices has offices in Boca Raton (principal office), Coral Springs, Miami, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth and West Palm Beach. The phone numbers are 561-483-9199 in Palm Beach County or 954-755-2120 in Broward County or 305-981-1561 in Miami-Dade County.
Of course, every case is different and unique and has to be judged based on the specific facts and merits of the case. The discussion in this personal injury blog is intended to be general in nature and should not to be construed as specific advice for your case, as a slight difference in the facts could ultimately change the result or sometimes there are exceptions in general discussions int he law. Also, this blog is generally based on Florida law and the laws of any other states or another country could vary from Florida.
