Legal Glossary:
Comparative Negligence

Comparative negligence is when the plaintiff is found to be partly at fault for his or her own injuries and is usually measured by a percentage by the jury. When a plaintiff is found to be comparatively negligent, the amount of the award is reduced by the percentage of the plaintiff's negligence.

Comparative negligence comes into play when it is contended that two or more parties failed to perform at the standard of the "ordinary reasonable person". For example, suppose one person was driving too fast in a patch of dense fog on the highway and hit a car -- but the car that was hit did not have its lights on as it should have.

Contact New York City Accident Attorneys Goidel and Siegel for Legal Advice.
We handle personal injury cases exclusively, and our knowledge of this area of the law is extensive.
We have represented victims of serious accidents and assaults for more than 17 years.