WI · jury_instructions
Wis JI-Civil 1730
Damages: Duty to Mitigate: Physical Injuries
A person who has been injured must use ordinary care to mitigate or lessen (his) (her)
damages. This duty to mitigate damages requires an injured person to use ordinary care to
seek medical (and surgical) treatment and to submit to and undergo recommended medical
(or surgical) treatment within a reasonable time to avoid or minimize any damage from
physical injuries. "Ordinary care" is the degree of care usually exercised by a person of
ordinary intelligence and prudence under the same or similar circumstances.
An injured person is only required to submit to those medical (or surgical) treatments
to which a reasonable person would have submitted. [A person is not required to undergo
treatment if it will not improve (his) (her) condition.] [Also, a person is not required to
undergo treatment if treatment is unreasonably dangerous or is not reasonably within his or
her means.]
In determining damages, you should keep in mind this duty of (plaintiff) to use
ordinary care to mitigate damages. If you find that (plaintiff) did not do so, you should not
include in your answer to this damage question any amount for consequences of the injury
which reasonably could have been avoided.
The burden of proof on this issue is on (defendant) to satisfy you to a reasonable
certainty, by the greater weight of credible evidence, that (plaintiff) did not use ordinary care
in mitigating damages.
History
Wis JI-Civil 1730 (2012). ©2012, Regents, Univ. of Wis. Prepared by the Wisconsin Civil Jury Instructions Committee of the Wisconsin Judicial Conference with the University of Wisconsin Law School; posted by the Wisconsin State Law Library with the University's permission.
Provenance
- Source
- wilawlibrary.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-24
- Edition
- 2026-09-24
- Content hash
84fd0f22da28f248a1c307bf80efcaf6d30373293be260cd5c8fb2ffbe99bd71
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