Yes, in Florida law, a jury can also find the person who is suing to be partly at fault in a fall accident or car accident and this is called comparative fault. Generally, the first issue for a jury in an injury case is to determine if the defendant (the person who is being sued) is at fault. If the answer is yes and if the defendant has raised a defense of comparative fault, then the second question is whether the plaintiff (the person suing) is also at fault. If no, then the defendant is presumed to be 100 percent at fault. If yes, then the jury must apportion fault between the plaintiff and defendant. This would be done by assigning percentages to each – like 50 percent and 50 percent or 70 percent and 30 percent, etc. If a jury awards total damages for plaintiff of $100,000 and assigns plaintiff 50 percent comparative fault, then instead of recovering all of the damages of $100,000, plaintiff instead only recovers $50,000.
If you have any questions regarding an injury case, please call Drucker Law Offices at 561-483-9199 in the principal office in Boca Raton, 954-755-2120 in the satellite Coral Springs office, 305-981-1561 at the satellite Miami office, 561-265-1976 at the Boynton Beach office, 561-967-3840 at the satellite Lake Worth office or 561-686-7070 at the West Palm Beach satellite office.
Every case is different and must be judged on its merits. It is a good start to get a complementary consultation regarding an accident case in case this happens to you. The advise contained in this blog is intended to be of general matter and not as to a specific situation, so please call a licensed Florida attorney, like the lawyer at Drucker Law Offices, to determine if and how Florida law applies to your case.
