When a personal injury occurs in New Orleans, who caused the accident is not always clear. Often, while someone else may have created a dangerous condition, the injured party also may have put themselves in a position to be injured.
Fortunately for the injured person, this does not mean they are completely barred from recovering compensation for their injuries.
Under Louisiana law, damages may be recovered even when the conduct of the injured person contributed to his or her injury. The injured person, however, would not recover full damages. Instead the amount awarded is reduced in proportion to the amount of any responsibility that the judge or jury attributes to that individual.
For an example, an injured person is awarded $100,000 in damages, but is also found by the jury to be 25 percent at fault for an accident. As a result, the total award is reduced by 25 percent, and the injured person only receives $75,000, not the total $100,000, from the defendant or defendants.
As a result, even if you think you are partially to blame for your own injury, you should take steps to protect your right to recover from the other parties who were also responsible.
If you have been injured and have questions regarding this topic, please feel free to contact my office at (504) 527-8767.
