Personal Injury Articles

Madison Personal Injury Lawyer

Wisconsin Personal Injury Damages Recovery - How Does it Work?

If you or someone you love has been injured because of the negligent actions, or failure to act, of someone else, you most likely already realize that you could be entitled to recover damages from the person or persons responsible for the injuries and financial losses you have suffered. However, some of our clients have asked us how the law treats situations where the person injured was at least partially at fault for what happened.

Below is a brief look at how this legal standard is applied to personal injury situations, but for a detailed and individualized analysis of how the law would apply to what happened to you or your loved one, contact a Madison personal injury lawyer at Habush Habush & Rottier, S.C. today to schedule a free initial consultation.

Negligence - The Wisconsin Standard

When a personal injury case is argued in a court room in Wisconsin, the judge and jury apply what is known as the "modified comparative fault" rule to the facts involved in the situation. This standard basically takes the actions of everyone who was involved in the incident into account, and if the person who is bringing the claim is not found to hold a majority of the responsibility for his or her injuries, he or she can recover damages to the extent that he or she is not liable.

How Does this Actually Happen when Deciding Damages?

As you see, the standard described above is somewhat complicated, so it's probably best described by using a hypothetical situation. Let's say that Mr. X is driving his car, and he encounters a controlled intersection. The light turns yellow before he encounters the perpendicular road, so he speeds up and intends to get through the intersection before the light turns red. Let's also assume that Mr. Y is driving along the cross street, and he runs through the red light that controls his direction, hitting Mr. X on the broad side of his car, which leads to $100,000 in damages for medical costs, lost wages and pain and suffering.

Assuming that all of the facts above are presented to the court, the judge will instruct the jury to use the standard described earlier. Specifically, if Mr. X, who is partially at fault for driving through a yellow light, is assigned 25% of the total fault for the accident, he will still recover damages. However, if Mr. X is found to be 51% or more at fault, he will not recover damages.

If Mr. X is found to be only 25% at fault for the accident, then he will recover $75,000 in damages, as the portion of damages for which he is responsible will be deducted from the total award. If Mr. X is found to be 51% at fault, Mr. X will not recover any damages.

As you can see, handling an issue like this one requires the help of a Madison personal injury lawyer. Contact Habush Habush & Rottier, S.C. today to schedule a free initial consultation.