Georgia residents who intend to pursue a personal injury case should understand the laws regarding negligence. Negligence is just one example of a tort, or an unlawful violation of a legal right. In this case, it is the right to be safe on the road, on someone’s property or anywhere else where a duty of care must be exercised.
Like many other states, Georgia holds to a comparative negligence law. It acknowledges the fact that some cases will involve contributory negligence; in other words, that victims may have contributed to a certain extent to their own injuries. Unlike a pure contributory negligence state like Virginia or North Carolina, though, Georgia does not bar recovery in all cases where plaintiffs were partially at fault.
Instead, plaintiffs can be eligible for compensation if their degree of fault is determined to be less than 50%. Their degree of fault will proportionally lower whatever amount they recover in damages. This is known more precisely as a modified comparative negligence rule as opposed to a pure comparative negligence rule, which does not theoretically bar recovery even if plaintiffs were 99% at fault.
Negligence laws also determine how much defendants pay when multiple defendants are involved. Ultimately, the one who pays the damages is entitled to a proportionate contribution from these others.
Someone who has been injured on another’s property due to the owner’s failure to uphold a duty of care may file a premises liability claim. However, this will require them to apply Georgia’s negligence law to their case. They may want a lawyer to help in this and with every step of the filing process. The lawyer could negotiate on their behalf for a fair settlement, hopefully out of court.
