9th Cir. Model Jury Instr. (Civil) 6.1

The plaintiff [name] claims that while [he] [she] [other pronoun] was employed by the defendant [name], a railroad, [he] [she] [other pronoun] suffered an injury caused by the negligence of the defendant [name]. The defendant denies the plaintiff [name]’s claim. To help you understand the evidence while it is being presented, I will now explain some of the legal terms you will hear during this trial.

Negligence is the failure to use reasonable care. Reasonable care is the degree of care that a reasonably prudent person would use under like circumstances. Someone can be negligent by doing something that a reasonably prudent person would not have done, or by failing to do something that a reasonably prudent person would have done.

It is not enough, however, that someone be negligent, because to be held responsible for an injury the person’s negligence must also have been a cause of the injury. To be a cause of an injury, the negligence must have played some part, no matter how small, in bringing that injury about.

The plaintiff [name] claims that the defendant [name] should be required to pay damages because its negligence was a cause of an injury suffered by the plaintiff [name]. It is the plaintiff [name]’s burden to prove that by a preponderance of the evidence. The defendant [name], on the other hand, claims that the plaintiff [name] was negligent and that the plaintiff [name]’s own negligence was a cause of the claimed injury. The defendant [name] has the burden of proving that by a preponderance of the evidence.

Should you determine that negligence of both the plaintiff [name] and the defendant [name] were causes of an injury, then you will determine the percentage of fault attributable to the plaintiff [name].