FL · jury_instructions
Fla. Std. Jury Instr. (Civ.) 401.23
BURDEN OF PROOF ON DEFENSE ISSUES
If the greater weight of the evidence does not support (defendant’s) defense[s] and the greater weight of the evidence does support (claimant’s) claim, then [your verdict should be for (claimant) in the total amount of [his] [her] damages] *[you should decide and write on the verdict form what percentage of the total negligence of [both] [all] defendants you apportion to each defendant whose negligence you find was a legal cause of loss, injury, or damage to (claimant)].
*Use second bracketed alternative above when there is more than one defendant.
If, however, the greater weight of the evidence shows that both (claimant) and [(defendant)] [one or more of (defendants)] were negligent and that the negligence of each contributed as a legal cause of [loss] [injury] [or] [damage] sustained by (claimant), you should decide and write on the verdict form what percentage of the total negligence of [both] [all] parties to this action you apportion to each of them.
Use the following instruction in cases with a comparative negligence defense and an apportionment of a non-party defense:
If, however, the greater weight of the evidence shows that (claimant) and [(defendant)] [one or more of (defendants)] and (identify additional person(s) or entit(y)(ies)) were negligent and that the negligence of each contributed as a legal cause of [loss] [injury] [or] [damage] sustained by (claimant), you should decide and write on the verdict form what percentage of the total negligence of [both] [all] parties to this action and (identify additional person(s) or entit(y)(ies)) you apportion to each of them.
Use the following instruction in cases without a comparative negligence defense but with an apportionment of a non-party defense:
If, however, the greater weight of the evidence shows that [(defendant)] [one or more of (defendants)] and (identify additional person(s) or entit(y)(ies)) were negligent and that the negligence of each contributed as a legal cause of [loss] [injury] [or] [damage] sustained by (claimant), you should decide and write on the verdict form what percentage of the total negligence of [(defendant)] and (identify additional person(s) or entit(y)(ies)) you apportion to each of them.
Provenance
- Source
- floridabar.org
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-18
- Edition
- 2026-08-18
- Content hash
d5f762605bd05e49de4c5ca3e594fb332e86f4bdcd48d878751801920e661531
The link goes to the issuing authority’s own document — the one we read to produce this record. Where a source publishes whole titles rather than sections, your browser may need a moment to jump to the provision.
Unofficial copy of government-published law, reproduced from official sources with full provenance. Not an official publication; verify against official sources before relying on it in a filing. Records in the 'guidance' corpus, and only that corpus, are sub-regulatory (interpretive guidelines, survey procedures) and are not binding law. Validity bounds follow each jurisdiction's declared temporalBasis.