LAW 604C Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Shool, Summary Judgment, Contributory Negligence
Document Summary
All-or-nothing judgments after comparative fault: no plaintiff negligence. Comparison of plaintiff and defendant fault is only at issue when both parties are negligent. Same as no plaintiff negligence: sorting claims into all-or-nothing or comparative elements. Know whether the issue is about fault or actual or proximate cause: reasonable care by the defendant in light of plaintiff fault, plai(cid:374)tiff"s fault as a supersedi(cid:374)g (cid:272)ause of the har(cid:373). A court will sometimes dis(cid:272)lai(cid:373) plai(cid:374)tiff"s re(cid:272)o(cid:448)er(cid:455) (cid:271)e(cid:272)ause of a supersedi(cid:374)g (cid:272)ause: causal apportionment of separate injuries. Comparative fault reductions may not always occur when the plaintiff and the defendant cause separate injuries: the mitigation of damages rule. Rule requires the plaintiff to minimize their damages by reasonable efforts and expenses. The burden is on the defendant to prove that the plaintiff failed to mitigate damages. Allocating full responsibility to the defendant in the interests of policy or justice.
