Comparative Fault Law

THIS LAW HAS CHANGED PURSUANT TO HOUSE BILL 837 WHICH WAS SIGNED INTO LAW ON MARCH 24, 2023 BY GOVERNOR DESANTIS. THE NEW MODIFIED COMPARATIVE FAULT LAW WILL BE SUBJECT TO AN UPDATED BLOG SHORTLY.

Chapter 768 Section 81 - 2022 Florida Statutes (flsenate.gov)

If you are injured in any sort of an accident and want to bring a claim against the responsible parties, one issue to consider is whether or not you contributed to your own injury, in any way. In certain states, if you contributed to your own injury this totally bars recovery. In the state of Florida that is not the case as the state of Florida follows the law of comparative negligence. Therefore, if a jury finds that the claimant was partially at fault for their own injury they will allocate a certain percentage of fault against each party to the lawsuit. For example, if you slip and fall at a store on some water that had accumulated from the rain the jury could find you 50% responsible for not paying attention to the water and the store 50%. The percentages could be 25% to 75% or any percentage that the jury believes the evidence has shown. The jury could also find the store 100% responsible or you 100% responsible. This percentage of fault is written by the jury directly on the verdict form. In another blog you will see a sample verdict form with this question for the jury. Outside the presence of the jury, the judge will then reduce the total verdict by the amount of any comparative negligence by the claimant. The link for the statute on comparative negligence is above. Therefore, even if you somehow contributed to your own injury, you should still contact us to review your claim.