Can You Still Sue if You Were Partially at Fault?

So I often get asked, can you still sue if you’re partially at fault? And the answer is yes. In Rhode Island, we follow a concept called pure comparative negligence, which means that even if you are partially responsible, you still can sue somebody for an accident or a slip and fall. How that works out is that if we have to take the case all the way through trial and we’re in front of a jury, the jury can apportion the liability. They can say that the landlord in this case is 80% liable for not salting or sanding a sidewalk and still hold you partially responsible saying that you may be 20% responsible. What that means then is that the landlord will have to pay 80% of the judgment. So you can still be successful even if you’re still partially responsible for what happened.

 

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