Nearly all Buffalo personal injury lawsuits revolve on the issue of negligence. While the injured party must prove the negligence of the defendant in causing the injury, it is not unusual for a defendant to claim that all or part of the injuries were caused by the injured person’s own negligent conduct. Comparative negligence and contributory negligence refer to two differing ways that a finding of negligence may be handled when determining damages.
Prior to 1975, personal injury lawsuits inNew York State were decided under a contributory negligence standard. Under this policy, if an injured person was found to be to any degree at fault for his or her own injury, he or she could not recover any damages. Even if the defendant was found 99% responsible and the plaintiff only 1% responsible, the defendant was not required to compensate the injured party.
After 1975,New York State changed this law and adopted a comparative negligence approach. While difference states have differing degrees of comparative negligence, New York is considered a “pure” comparative negligence state. This means that even if the plaintiff is 90% responsible and the defendant only 10%, the injured party is entitled to recovery of that 10%. There is no minimum threshold that must be reached; the amount of financial damages is simply reduced by the percentage that the injured person is found at fault.
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