Not necessarily. Florida operates a “pure comparative negligence” system that allows you to recover some of your damages even if you were partly at fault for the accident. The court will apportion fault among the parties on a percentage basis; it will then deduct an amount from your damages that equals your percentage of fault. If, for example, the court rules that you were 35 percent at fault and the defendant was 65 percent at fault, and if your damages were $100,000, the court will subtract 35 percent ($35,000) from your damages, leaving you eligible for $65,000 in damages. If the defendant counterclaims against you, however, he or she could hold you liable for 35 percent of the damages, which amount would be subtracted from your $65,000. If his or her damages were much higher than yours, you could still end up in the hole.
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