“What If Multiple Parties are at Fault?” Comparative Fault in Illinois

When you are injured in an accident, determining who is legally responsible for your damages can be a complex tax. Often, more than one party’s actions (or inaction) contributed to creating the harm you suffered.

Illinois law recognizes that many accidents do not occur because of the actions of one person or party: but from the combined actions or negligence of multiple individuals or entities. This means that pursuing damages from these accidents is not always straightforward. Illinois law has developed a system to attempt to assign liability in a fair manner when multiple parties are involved. Understanding how this system, a modified comparative fault model, works and who can be held liable for your accident is absolutely crucial for you to properly assert your rights and ensure you receive fair compensation.

At Patel Law, PC, experienced personal injury attorneys can help you navigate all of the challenges commonly faced in multi-party suits. This article begins a general conversation about comparative fault and joint and several liability in Illinois. For official advice and sound legal counsel, contact one of our experienced attorneys.

Comparative Fault in Illinois

Illinois law has developed to follow a system of modified comparative fault. This means that an injured party can seek to recover damages from an at-fault party even if they are only partially at fault for the accident. There are some limitations to this, of course. For instance, if the plaintiff is more than 50% responsible for their accident then you cannot recover damages from the other party. If the plaintiff shares some responsibility for the accident, but that fault is determined to be less than 50% of the fault, then the plaintiff’s recovery will be reduced by the percentage of fault the plaintiff holds.

For example: if a jury finds that a plaintiff is 10% at-fault for their accident and you are awarded $50,000 in damages, that award would be reduced by 10%. So you would be ordered to receive the award minus 10% – in this case, that would be $45,000 dollars.

This same principle applies to multiple defendants. If there are multiple people who share fault in an accident, the degree of fault found with each party must be assessed before assigning out damages. If one defendant is 90% at fault for an accident, and another defendant 10% at fault, Illinois law strives for fairness in assigning liability to pay damages according to those fault lines. The two defendants will not be assigned equal responsibility to pay damages; it will be split, in the example above, 90/10.

Joint and Several Liability

One of the most important legal doctrines to consider and understand when handling multi-party claims is the concept of joint and several liability. Under 735 ILCS 5/2-1117, defendants in an accident claim can be held jointly and severally liable for certain types of damages.

• If a defendant is found to be 25% or more at fault, they may be held jointly and severally liable for all of the plaintiff’s damages, including both economic and non-economic losses.
• If a defendant is found to be less than 25% at fault, they are only severally liable for non-economic damages (such as pain and suffering). However, they might still share joint liability for economic damages (such as medical bills and lost wages).

This rule is designed to ensure that even if one party who is responsible does not have the ability to pay, plaintiffs will still be able to recover necessary compensation. To discuss how this important legal concept integrates into your own case, contact Patel Law, Pc.

Contact Patel Law, PC

Whether a car accident, trucking accident, or premises liability, every injured person deserves to protect and assert their rights. Contact the experienced Decatur personal injury attorneys at Patel Law, PC to speak with our team about your own case, today.

Sources:

nbcchicago.com/news/local/deadly-multi-vehicle-crash-shuts-down-lanes-on-il-53-in-northwest-suburb/3800502/

wandtv.com/news/2-year-old-killed-multiple-injured-after-car-crashes-into-illinois-restaurant/article_30e20f05-9a59-4bad-9e6f-8ffff047ae53.html