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How ‘Fault’ Affects Your Texas Personal Injury Claim

Sometimes the defendant was clearly 100 percent at fault, but sometimes another party (including the injury victim) is going to be found partially at-fault. In Texas, we are a comparative responsibility state. This means that as long as you're not more than 50 percent at fault, you can recover monetary compensation for your injuries. However, the ultimate jury award is reduced down by the percentage of fault assigned to the plaintiff (the injured party) by the jury. Here's an example: John is running late for his date with Sally. He crashes his car into Bob's pickup truck, sending Bob to the hospital with serious injuries. At the end of the trial, the jury awards Bob $100,000 in damages, but also unfortunately determines Bob was 25 percent at fault for the accident (John was only found to be 75 percent responsible). Bob would not be entitled to the full $100,000 awarded by the jury. Instead, the Judge would reduce his award by 25 percent (or $25,000), and a Judgment would be entered in Bob's favor for $75,000. Ultimately, Bob still receives compensation, but not as much as he could have, had he not been found partially at-fault for the crash.

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