Understanding Illinois Comparative Negligence Rule for Personal Injury Lawsuits
If you’ve been recently injured in a car accident or a slip and fall accident, are you still allowed to file suit even if you’re partially at fault? Yes, you may still have a case, even if you are partly to blame for the accident. You just need to prove that you were less responsible than the defendant.
In Illinois, you have a legal concept known as comparative negligence, which dictates how the responsibility is shared for an accident in which a victim suffered bodily injury. Juries are told to consider the amount on a proportional basis, calculating how much fault each party contributed to the accident.
Under Illinois Pattern Jury Instruction B10.3, a plaintiff may be contributorily negligent if:
- They fail to use ordinary care for their own safety; and
- The failure to use ordinary care is a proximate cause of the injury
If an injured person or a plaintiff contributed to the cause of the accident, this will cause their damages award (or jury verdict) to be reduced by their share of the blame. If the plaintiff’s liability is 51% or higher, then they are prevented from recovering any damages at all.
Illinois’ comparative negligence rule
Under Illinois’ comparative negligence rule, the plaintiff or injured party can only recover damages when their contributory negligence is less than 50% of the total fault that resulted from the accident. If the negligence contributed by the injured party was more than 50%, that individual would be barred from recovering damages.
If the plaintiff is 49% responsible for the injury, they can still recover damages from other contributors of negligence. However, their total damages award would be reduced by their percentage of blame. In other words, a plaintiff who is 49% responsible for their injuries would recover only 51% of their total damages.
If the plaintiff is found to be 51% responsible for their injuries, no recovery would be possible and the defendant would be found not liable.
Examples of Illinois’ comparative negligence rule
Joe is injured in a slip and fall at a gas station. There is liquid on the floor from a cooler in the back. Joe slips on the liquid and breaks his arm. Joe argues that the gas station is responsible for his injuries because they left a dangerous condition on the premises. The gas station argues that Joe is liable because he was looking at his cell phone when he fell. A jury decides Joe is 25% liable for looking at his cell phone and awards him $50,000 in damages. Joe gets to keep 75% of $50,000 or $37,500
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Patel Law, PC represents the interests of injured parties in personal injury lawsuits. Call our Champaign personal injury lawyers today to schedule a consultation and we can begin investigating your allegations immediately.
