Conn. Civ. Jury Instr. 3.5-4

As I have explained, the plaintiff has claimed that the (collision / incident) was caused by the

defendant’s negligence, and the defendant has claimed that it was caused by the plaintiff’s own

negligence. If you find that negligence on the part of BOTH parties was a substantial factor in

causing the (collision / incident), then the law is that the plaintiff can recover damages from the

defendant only to the extent of the defendant’s fault and may not recover damages to the extent

that (he/she) (himself/herself) was at fault.

If the plaintiff was more at fault than the defendant, then the plaintiff cannot recover any

damages.

Here is an example to make this rule clear: If the plaintiff was 20% at fault and the defendant

was 80% at fault, the plaintiff recovers 80% of (his/her) damages. If the plaintiff was 50% at

fault and the defendant was 50% at fault, the plaintiff recovers 50% of (his/her) damages.

However, if the plaintiff was more than 50% at fault, (he/she) was more at fault than the party

(he/she) has sued, and (he/she) recovers no damages.

Just as an example, suppose the plaintiff’s total damages were $100. If the plaintiff was 30% at

fault and the defendant was 70% at fault, the plaintiff would recover 70% of the $100, or $70.

The plaintiff would thus not receive payment for the part of (his/her) damages caused by

(his/her) own negligence. Obviously, the numbers used are just for the sake of an example. I

could have used $10,000 or $10 million.