Negligence, as it may sound, is not intentional.

These are cases where the offending party didn’t intend to cause damage, but failed to exercise the care a reasonable person would take to prevent harm or injury to another.

An example would be mopping a public floor without putting down a sign indicating the floor is wet. If someone were to slip on the floor and sustain a serious injury due to such a fall, you may have a case of negligence.

To find out if your case may qualify as negligence, give us a call for a free consultation at (301) 294-7400.

Negligence laws vary from state to state, but here are a few terms you should be aware of:

Gross Negligence

Gross negligence is an egregious form of negligent action taken by the defendant causing harm or injury to others.

It’s negligence so severe that no reasonable person would have ever committed such an act. This transcends what might otherwise be a minor case of carelessness or thoughtlessness by the offending party.

Gross negligence is a willing or conscious disregard for one’s reasonable duty to not cause damage to others through their actions.

Contributory Negligence

In cases where you were injured or harmed from an event, the situation may or may not have been purely one-sided.

The defendant may have done something to cause injury, but the negative outcome may have also been due to some amount of negligence on the plaintiff’s part, as well. This is an argument defense attorneys use all the time to attempt to defeat the plaintiff in Court.

Comparative Negligence

In certain states (not Maryland or D.C.), let’s say you’re partly to blame for an auto accident.

If negligence on the defendant’s part is found 75% at fault and you’re found 25% at fault, your compensation may be reduced by 25% to account for your responsibility in what happened.