The outcome of personal injury cases in Illinois depends upon the level of negligence assigned to each person involved in an accident. The defense side often tries to argue for comparative or contributory negligence or claim assumption of risk to try to reduce or eliminate damages in personal injury cases.
Under comparative negligence, the plaintiff’s side usually cannot recover damages if the person suing for personal injury held any responsibility for the accident. This doctrine assumes that the plaintiff did not practice ordinary care to avoid injury and was injured by negligent actions. Assumption of risk can also pose a challenge for the plaintiff’s side because it assumes an individual engaging in an activity understands the risks involved.
Under comparative negligence, the amount in damages a plaintiff receives depends heavily on the degree of negligence involved. Many states, including Illinois Compiled Statutes > Illinois, go by the rule of modified comparative negligence. This means that individuals can only go for damages if they hold 50 percent or less responsibility for the accident. In comparison, pure comparable negligence allows for plaintiffs to go for damages for any amount of liability, and slight gross negligence lets plaintiffs seek damages only if they play very minimal parts in causing accidents.
In personal injury cases, injured people or their families may be able to seek damages for medical bills or funeral expenses, resulting from injuries or illnesses sustained during accidents. However, a person’s accidents during an incident can have an impact on the potential damage amount. Police reports, eyewitness account and accident reconstructions can better show negligence on the park of both parties. To find out more about degree of liability in a case, a plaintiff may want to talk about their case with a personal injury attorney.