Tennessee personal injury victims should consider their relative fault when seeking accident compensation. Car wrecks, slip or trip, and other injury awards may be reduced when the injured party contributed to the damages. The defendant must be more negligent than the plaintiff to sustain any legal liability. An even split prevents monetary recovery. Tennessee’s modified comparative fault system replaced contributory negligence where a plaintiff who contributed any fault towards his injury was barred from recovery. McIntyre v. Balentine, 833 S.W.2d52.
What does this mean for personal injury victims? It means the claimed negligent party must be more at fault to recover and any liability attached to the plaintiff will reduce his award. Example: Plaintiff sustained $10k in damages, but the jury finds him 20% negligent compared to defendant’s 80%. Barring outside facts plaintiff would recover $8k. Tort liability is still an available remedy and a small amount of negligence will not preclude a claim where the other party was more negligent.
This is also good news for defendants who will have their monetary liability reduced by the percentage the plaintiff is at fault. The process attempts to equate fault to liability and does not reward negligent plaintiffs with a compensation windfall greater than the defendant’s negligence. Contact Franklin Personal Injury Lawyer George Angelopoulos at (615) 422 – 7171 or email George@615Lawyer.com to discuss your situation. Tennessee comparative fault may be an important element of your case and understanding the impact allows an informed decision when negotiating a settlement or filing a civil complaint. George offers free consultations and will work on a contingent basis meaning if there is no recovery then no attorney’s fees are due.
The Franklin Auto Accident Lawyer holds Negligent Drivers and their insurance carriers accountable for personal injuries. Find out more during your free vehicle crash consultation.
(615) 422-7171
The Auto Accident Attorney address is 2550 Meridian Blvd. STE 200 Franklin, TN 37067 off I-65 at Cool Springs. George handles accident claims across Tennessee.
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