Figuring out how jurors understand negligence allows us to fit the story of our case into the jurors’ understanding and greatly increases our chances of prevailing. Several years ago, I was standing next to my client behind the plaintiff’s counsel table. After four hours of deliberation, the foreperson hands the verdict to the bailiff, who slowly walks it over to the judge.

The defendant in this case had rear-ended the plaintiff and pushed her into another car that was turning into a bank parking lot. The defense argued the plaintiff hit the car turning into the bank parking lot first. Based on the legal definition of negligence, I thought liability, in this case, was clear. Even if the jury believed the defense argument, the defendant was still negligent for rear-ending the plaintiff, and we should just be arguing about damages, right?

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