If you were raised with siblings then you know the concept of shared fault. Whether you started the fight or you were just the innocent victim, you would probably hear the same thing I don’t care who started it. Seemingly, in the eyes of our parents our mere existence warranted at least some blame.
At some point in our legal history, courts started to take cues from parents and adopted- albeit in a slightly different fashion- a shared fault system known as contributory negligence.
In a nutshell, contributory negligence means that you, the injured party, may have contributed to your injuries because of your own negligence. That does not mean that you do not have a case. All it means is that your negligence may be apportioned a certain percentage and deducted from the recovered amount. Some examples of contributory negligence could include not wearing a seatbelt while in a motor vehicle accident or wearing flip-flops in the snow and subsequently slipping on someone’s property.
At some point during our intake we ask questions that inform us of possible contributory negligence on your part. We do this in order to protect your interests later on. If you need to speak to someone about a personal injury, call Bergel, Magence, LLP at 416-665-2000. We will have your back- even if you do decide to wear flip-flops in the snow.