Comparative negligence

Comparative negligence is a partial legal defense that reduces the amount of damages that a plaintiff can recover in a negligence claim based upon the degree to which the plaintiff's own negligence contributed to causing the injury. When the defense is asserted, the fact-finder must decide the degree to which the plaintiff's negligence versus the combined negligence of all other relevant actors contributed to cause the plaintiff's damages. It is a modification of the doctrine of contributory negligence which disallows any recovery by a plaintiff whose negligence contributed, even minimally, to causing the damages.