Opinion ID: 2230336
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Heading: CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE v. COMPARATIVE NEGLIGENCE

Text: The contributory negligence defense has been subject to attack because of its failure to apportion damages according to the fault of the parties. Under a comparative negligence standard, the parties are allowed to recover the proportion of damages not attributable to their own fault. The basic logic and fairness of such apportionment is difficult to dispute. The defendants herein claim that no change of circumstances has been shown which would call for a change from the established doctrine of contributory negligence. The Illinois Defense Counsel, in its amicus curiae brief, relies on the words of Mr. Justice Powell for the proposition that change is not demanded by the public. [T]here is little evidence that the public generally is concerned. If indeed the present rule is as `archaic' and `unjust' as is contended, one would normally expect much greater support for the organized efforts being made to abolish it. Powell, Contributory Negligence: A Necessary Check on the American Jury, 43 A.B.A.J. 1005, 1008 (1957). It must be noted, however, that at the time of Mr. Justice Powell's quoted assessment, only six States had adopted the doctrine of comparative negligence. That 30 additional States have since adopted the doctrine evidences that the basis for the assessment has changed and that today there is, indeed, a compelling public demand to abolish the old rule. Certainly, the concern which prompted the adoption of the rule can no longer support its retention. There is no longer any justification for providing the protective barrier of the contributory negligence rule for industries of the nation at the expense of deserving litigants. ( Hoffman v. Jones (Fla. 1973), 280 So.2d 431, 437.) It must be pointed out that today most cases against industrial defendants are brought under the Worker's Compensation Act, under which plaintiff's negligence is not an issue. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 48, par. 138.1 et seq.; Maki v. Frelk (1967), 85 Ill. App.2d 439, 441, rev'd on other grounds (1968), 40 Ill.2d 193.) The United States Supreme Court recognized the obsolescence of the rule in relation to present-day needs in one sphere of the law: The harsh rule of the common law under which contributory negligence wholly barred an injured person from recovery is completely incompatible with modern admiralty policy and practice. ( Pope & Talbot v. Hawn (1953), 346 U.S. 406, 408-09, 98 L.Ed. 143, 150, 74 S.Ct. 202, 204.) We believe that the concept of comparative negligence which produces a more just and socially desirable distribution of loss is demanded by today's society. Defendants contend that the apportionment of relative fault by a jury cannot be scientifically done, as such precise measurement is impossible. The simple and obvious answer to this contention is that in 36 jurisdictions of the United States such apportionment is being accomplished by juries. The Supreme Court of California, in responding to a similar contention, stated: These inherent difficulties are not, however, insurmountable. Guidelines might be provided the jury which will assist it in keeping focussed upon the true inquiry [citation], and the utilization of special verdicts or jury interrogatories can be of invaluable assistance in assuring that the jury has approached its sensitive and often complex task with proper standards and appropriate reverence. ( Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975), 13 Cal.3d 804, 824, 532 P.2d 1226, 1240, 119 Cal. Rptr. 858, 872.) We agree that such guidelines can assist a jury in making apportionment decisions and view the necessary subtle calculations no more difficult or sophisticated for jury determination than others in a jury's purview, such as compensation for pain and suffering. Although it is admitted that percentage allocations of fault are only approximations, the results are far superior to the all or nothing results of the contributory negligence rule. Small imperfections can be disregarded, small inequities tolerated, if the final result is generally satisfactory. Turk, Comparative Negligence on the March, 28 Chi.-Kent L. Rev. 189, 341-42 (1950). Defendants assert that the contributory negligence rule should be retained in that the comparative negligence doctrine rewards carelessness and ignores the value of requiring prudent behavior. The fallacy of this premise was underscored by Dean Prosser: [T]he assumption that the speeding motorist is, or should be meditating on the possible failure of a lawsuit for his possible injuries lacks all reality, and it is quite as reasonable to say that the rule promotes accidents by encouraging the negligent defendant. (Prosser, Comparative Negligence, 41 Cal. L. Rev. 1, 4 (1953).) (See Liv. Yellow Cab Co. (1975), 13 Cal.3d 804, 811 n. 4, 532 P.2d 1226, 1231 n. 4, 119 Cal. Rptr. 858, 863 n. 4; Kaatz v. State (Alaska 1975), 540 P.2d 1037, 1048; Kirby v. Larson (1977), 400 Mich. 585, 619 n. 29, 256 N.W.2d 400, 416 n. 29.) Contrary to defendants' assertion, we believe that the need to deter negligent parties supports the adoption of the comparative negligence doctrine in which each party would be liable for damages in direct proportion to his degree of carelessness. Defendants claim that the change to comparative negligence will cause administrative difficulties due to an increase in claims, a decrease in settlements, and a resulting overcrowded docket. An Arkansas study showed that, there, the adoption of comparative negligence prompted no drastic change in court burden; that the change increased potential litigation but promoted more pretrial settlements. The report concluded that concern over court congestion should not be a factor in a State's decision to adopt comparative negligence. Rosenberg, Comparative Negligence in Arkansas; A Before and After Survey, 13 Ark. L. Rev. 89, 108 (1959). See Also Note, Comparative Negligence  A Survey of the Arkansas Experience, 22 Ark. L. Rev. 692 (1969). In United States v. Reliable Transfer Co. (1975), 421 U.S. 397, 44 L.Ed.2d 251, 95 S.Ct. 1708, wherein the court adopted apportionment of damages over the previous rule of divided damages in admiralty, the court addressed an argument similar to that posited by defendants herein. [Defendants ask] us to continue the operation of an archaic rule because its facile application out of court yields quick, though inequitable, settlements, and relieves the courts of some litigation. Congestion in the courts cannot justify a legal rule that produces unjust results in litigation simply to encourage speedy out-of-court accommodations. ( United States v. Reliable Transfer Co. (1975), 421 U.S. 397, 408, 44 L.Ed.2d 251, 261, 95 S.Ct. 1708, 1714.) We believe that the defendants' fears concerning the judicial administrative problems attendant upon the adoption of comparative negligence are exaggerated. ( Kaatz v. State (Alaska 1975), 540 P.2d 1037, 1048; Scott v. Rizzo (1981), 96 N.M. 682, 687, 634 P.2d 1234, 1239.) But were defendants' fears well founded, we could nevertheless not allow the contributory negligence rule to remain the law of this State in the face of overwhelming evidence of its harsh and unjust results. Defendants' claim that the adoption of comparative negligence would escalate insurance rates to an unbearable level. This has not been found to be the case. Effects, in fact, have been found to be minimal. Rosenberg, Comparative Negligence in Arkansas: A Before and After Survey, 13 Ark. L. Rev. 89, 108 (1959). See V. Schwartz, Comparative Negligence 338 (1974); Fleming, Foreword: Comparative Negligence at Last  By Judicial Choice, 64 Cal. L. Rev. 239, 243-44 (1976). The amicus curiae brief submitted by the Illinois Defense Counsel suggests that, under the contributory negligence rule, the jury has sufficient flexibility to do substantial justice and that this flexibility negates the necessity for the adoption of comparative negligence. In essence, the Illinois Defense Counsel alludes to the oft-observed phenomenon that, once inside the jury room, juries often ignore the harshness of the contributory negligence rule and, instead, dole out justice by a common sense approach according to the relative culpability of the litigants. We agree that such may be the case and, in fact, find the proclivity of juries to ignore the law to be a compelling reason for the abolition of that law. The Supreme Court of Florida addressed this concern. [T]here is something basically wrong with a rule of law that is so contrary to the settled convictions of the lay community that laymen will almost always refuse to enforce it, even when solemnly told to do so by a judge whose instructions they have sworn to follow.    The disrespect for law engendered by putting our citizens in a position in which they feel it is necessary to deliberately violate the law is not something to be lightly brushed aside; and it comes ill from the mouths of lawyers, who as officers of the courts have sworn to uphold the law, to defend the present system by arguing that it works because jurors can be trusted to disregard that very law. ( Hoffman v. Jones (Fla. 1973), 280 So.2d 431, 437.) There is something inherently wrong with a rule of law so repulsive to a jury's common sense of justice that veniremen feel compelled to ignore the law. Scott v. Rizzo (1981), 96 N.M. 682, 689, 634 P.2d 1234, 1241; Hoffman v. Jones (Fla. 1973), 280 So.2d 431, 437; Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975), 13 Cal.3d 804, 811, 532 P.2d 1226, 1231, 119 Cal. Rptr. 858, 863; Fleming, Foreword: Comparative Negligence at Last  By Judicial Choice, 64 Cal. L. Rev. 239, 242-43 (1976); Prosser, Comparative Negligence, 41 Cal. L. Rev. 1, 4 (1953).