VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
Hi, I’m John Ostroff. Thanks for visiting OstroffLaw.com. You’ve clicked on the question, what if the accident is partly my fault? I can answer that question for you.
In Pennsylvania, if a party causes another party harm, and the party that causes the harm, or the parties, more than one, that causes the harm, is more than 51% at fault, then you’re gonna be entitled to a recovery. Whatever your share of the fault is determined to be, that’s what your recovery is gonna be reduced by.
So, in a settlement discussion or negotiation, we will negotiate fault, and we will negotiate value, and if we agree that the value is, say, $100,000, and we can agree that the share of fault was 10% on my client, then the value will be $90,000. That’s what we will recommend the settlement at, if $100,000 would be a fair settlement if you weren’t at fault at all. A jury will do the same thing. If, in reaching a verdict, they apportion 20% of the fault to our client, the verdict’ll be reduced by 20%, but as long as we can prove that more than 51% of the fault that caused our clients harm belongs to another party, we’re gonna be able to recover that portion of the recovery for you. I hope that answers your questions. Thanks.
