So, you did not pursue a lawsuit, or even a claim against an insurance company, because you thought that since you may be partially at fault that means you would lose and you get nothing for your damages?
In this post I want to tell you why in many states, like in New York, you are WRONG!
Listen, not all types of crashes or incidents that cause injuries are cut and dry where its clear the other party was 100% at fault. But its ok, because the law of most states provides for some sort of determination as to comparative fault or comparative negligence as you might hear it called – meaning you can still recover even if your partially at fault.
In NY, where the bulk of our cases are, we have what’s called a PURE comparative fault rule, meaning that if you are partially responsible than the amount you can recover for your damages, like pain and suffering, will simply be lowered by the percentage of your fault, no matter how great that percentage is. So, for example, if the jury finds that you should recover $100,000, but that you were 10% at fault, then you will still recover $90,000. If the jury found you were 80% at fault than you still recover, $20,000.
You will obviously want to know your state’s rules because some are way more stringent and if you are 50% or more at fault you cannot recover at all. Some even say if you are 1% at fault you’re out of luck.
This illustrates even further, that if you are injured in any type of incident just call a lawyer you can trust because you may be disqualifying yourself from a recovery for your damages, for absolutely no reason.
