Glossary

Comparative negligence

The rule that reduces an injury recovery by the injured person's own share of fault — and, in many states, bars it entirely past a threshold.

Under a pure comparative rule, recovery is reduced in proportion to your share of fault however large that share is: someone ninety percent responsible still recovers ten percent of their damages. Modified rules add a bar. Some states cut recovery off at fifty percent or more, others only above fifty percent — a distinction that decides the case for anyone found exactly half at fault. Michigan takes a third path, barring non-economic damages above the threshold while leaving economic damages recoverable. Which rule applies is a matter of state law, and the differences are not cosmetic. Identical facts produce a recovery in one state and nothing in its neighbour.

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