In an article for the Palm Beach Post, Florida personal injury attorney, Theodore Babbitt, discusses defenses in negligence actions. It is important for lawyers who handle personal injury cases to be aware of all defenses that can be raised by a defendant.

The defendant can allege a number of “affirmative defenses”:

  • Comparative Negligence: “…the jury assesses what percentage of fault is due to the plaintiff and what percentage is due to the defendant. Whatever percentage the jury finds was the fault of the plaintiff, the damages of the plaintiff are reduced by that percentage.
  • Assumption of risk: “…the jury considers the percentage of any assumption of risk of the plaintiff and the plaintiff’s verdict is reduced by that percentage as a part of comparative negligence.”

There are many more affirmative defenses that can be raised by the defendant. Florida personal injury lawyers need to be prepared to present evidence that counters those defenses.

Click to read more about Florida’s history of defenses in negligence.