PJC General Negligence 2022

B ASIC N EGLIGENCE Q UESTIONS

PJC 4.3

PJC 4.3 Proportionate Responsibility If you answered “Yes” to Question[ s ] ______ [ applicable liability ques tion(s) ] for more than one of those named below, then answer the following question. Otherwise, do not answer the following question. Assign percentages of responsibility only to those you found caused or con tributed to cause the [ injury ] [ occurrence ]. The percentages you find must total 100 percent. The percentages must be expressed in whole numbers. The per centage of responsibility attributable to any one is not necessarily measured by the number of acts or omissions found. The percentage attributable to any one need not be the same percentage attributed to that one in answering another question. QUESTION ______ For each person you found caused or contributed to cause the [ injury ] [ occurrence ], find the percentage of responsibility attributable to each: 1. Don Davis % 2. Paul Payne % 3. Sam Settlor % 4. Responsible Ray % Total 100 % COMMENT When to use. Rule 277 requires a percentage question “in any cause in which the jury is required to apportion the loss among the parties.” Tex. R. Civ. P. 277. Thus, PJC 4.3 should be used if the issue of the responsibility of more than one person is submit ted to the jury under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 33.001–.017. Conditioned on responsibility of more than one person. PJC 4.3 is conditioned on findings that the acts or omissions of more than one person proximately caused the occurrence, because otherwise no comparison is possible. Blanks for question numbers. The question number to be inserted in the blank space in the conditioning instruction should coincide with that of the underlying liabil ity question. Use of “injury” or “occurrence” in PJC 4.1. The term used in the question at PJC 4.1 (see PJC 4.1 Comment) should also be used in PJC 4.3.

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