There are some cases when the victim has some level of responsibility for what happened. This often happens in car accident cases, when the victim made an illegal maneuver or violated traffic laws just before the accident. The crash may have occurred anyway, but the victim's actions might have made his or her injuries worse.
In these types of situations, the percentage of fault can affect the amount of compensation that is available to recover. This is because of Wisconsin's law on comparative negligence. Under this law, a plaintiff cannot recover any compensation if they are 51 percent or more at fault. If the plaintiff is less than 51 percent at fault, the amount of compensation will be reduced by the percentage of fault. If the plaintiff is 20 percent at fault, the total compensation award will be reduced by 20 percent.
This often arises in lawsuits however, insurance companies may also apply this law. Our Milwaukee personal injury lawyers have detailed knowledge of this law and work to build a strong argument for each case that we handle. We want our clients to receive all the compensation that they are eligible to receive.