Las Vegas Personal Injury Lawyers
Explaining Comparative Negligence

Not every Nevada personal injury lawsuit involves the simple situation of a plaintiff being totally without fault and a defendant being completely at fault for the injuries that the plaintiff suffered. Many of these Nevada personal injury cases involve fault and potential negligence by both the plaintiff and the defendant.

Fortunately, Nevada personal injury laws account for these situations, and below you’ll find a brief overview of the Nevada concept of comparative fault, which is the concept that describes a situation where both parties share at least part of the blame for the injuries and damages suffered by the plaintiff.

Nevada Comparative Fault
The Modified System

Comparative fault describes the legal approach to situations where both parties to a Nevada personal injury lawsuit must take a portion of the blame for the incident that led to the filing of the action. There are different types of approaches used in different jurisdictions, but Nevada uses what’s known as the ‘Modified Comparative Fault’ system.

Basically, what modified comparative fault calls for is a separation of the percentage of fault for a situation. For instance, if the case involves a car accident where the plaintiff is 10 percent at fault and the defendant is 90 percent at fault, then the plaintiff would ultimately recover 90 percent of the damages he or she originally sought. The 10 percent reduction accounts for the portion of fault that’s been assigned to the plaintiff.

However, in a modified system, the plaintiff must be in compliance with what’s generally known as the ’51 percent rule,’ which means that the plaintiff must be found to be less than 51 percent at fault for the result that led to the lawsuit. If the plaintiff is found to be 51 percent at fault or more, then the plaintiff by law cannot recover damages.

Courts will come to a decision regarding the percentages of fault for each of the parties based on the facts of the case that are presented into evidence, and this decision is made by a jury after obtaining instructions from the judge regarding how such a decision should be made. There is no tangible equation to use, but juries are expected to use proper judgment in reaching this decision.

Therefore, if you have been injured by someone else and you’re concerned that you may be partially at fault, you need to contact an experienced Las Vegas personal injury lawyer who can help you decide how to proceed. Contact the Sam Harding Law Firm today to schedule a free initial consultation, as the firm has been successfully helping people through these situations for many years.