An attorney with Cavanaugh & Thickens, LLC, Stephen Krzyston provides knowledgeable representation in criminal defense and personal injury cases. One focus for Stephen Krzyston in his Columbia, South Carolina, practice is cases involving catastrophic car accidents.
South Carolina operates under "modified comparative negligence” rules. For example, when a person with a serious injury in a car accident goes to court and the jury determines that the other driver was partly responsible for the accident, but the plaintiff also bears a portion of the blame, awards for damages can be affected. In this situation, damages can still be recovered, with the award reduced in-line with the injured party’s share of negligence. If the jury finds the plaintiff to be 20 percent responsible for the crash because he or she was driving over the speed limit at the time of the accident, an award that would otherwise be $50,000 is reduced to $40,000.
In non-court cases, the comparative negligence rule is also important when working with against the car insurance claims adjuster to come up with a settlement amount. One thing to keep in mind is that the comparative negligence rule only applies in situations where the injured party’s share of responsibility for the accident does not exceed that of the other party's.
