M Civ JI 66.03 Form of Verdict: Comparative Negligence - Personal Injury Action (To Be Used in Cases Filed on or after March 28, 1996)

We, the jury, answer the questions submitted as follows:

QUESTION NO. 1: Was the defendant negligent?

Answer: ____(yes or no)

If your answer is “yes,” go on to QUESTION NO. 2.

If your answer is “no,” do not answer any further questions.

QUESTION NO. 2: Was the plaintiff injured?

Answer: ____(yes or no)

If your answer is “yes,” go on to QUESTION NO. 3.

If your answer is “no,” do not answer any further questions.

QUESTION NO. 3: Was the defendant’s negligence a proximate cause of the injury claimed by the plaintiff?

Answer: ____(yes or no)

If your answer is “yes,” go on to QUESTION NO. 4.

If your answer is “no,” do not answer any further questions.

QUESTION NO. 4: Was [ name of nonparty ] negligent?

Answer: ____(yes or no)

If your answer is “yes,” go on to QUESTION NO. 5.

If your answer is “no,” go on to QUESTION NO. 6.

QUESTION NO. 5: Was [ name of nonparty ]’s negligence a proximate cause of the injury claimed by the plaintiff?

Answer: ____(yes or no)

If your answer is “yes” or “no,” go on to QUESTION NO. 6.

QUESTION NO. 6: Was the plaintiff negligent?

Answer: ____(yes or no)

If your answer is “yes,” go on to QUESTION NO. 7.

If your answer is “no,” go on to QUESTION NO. 8.

QUESTION NO. 7: Was the plaintiff’s negligence a proximate cause of plaintiff’s injury?

Answer: ____(yes or no)

If your answer is “yes” or “no,” go on to QUESTION NO. 8.

QUESTION NO. 8:

A. Using 100 percent as the total, enter the percentage of negligence attributable to the defendant: | ____ percent
B. If you answered “yes” to QUESTION NO. 5, then using 100 percent as the total, enter the percentage of negligence attributable to [ name of nonparty ]: | ____ percent
C. If you answered “yes” to QUESTION NO. 7, then using 100 percent as the total, enter the percentage of negligence attributable to the plaintiff: | ____ percent

The total of these must equal 100 percent: TOTAL 100 percent

QUESTION NO. 9: If you find that plaintiff has sustained damages for [ describe past economic damages claimed by the plaintiff such as lost wages, medical expenses, etc. ] to the present date, give the total amount of damages to the present date.

Answer: $________.____

QUESTION NO. 10: If you find that the plaintiff will incur costs for medical or other health care in the future, give the total amount for each year in which the plaintiff will incur costs.

Answer:

$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

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$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

QUESTION NO. 11: If you find that plaintiff will sustain damages for [ lost wages or earnings / or / lost earning capacity / and / [ describe other economic loss claimed by plaintiff ] ] in the future, give the total amount for each year in which the plaintiff will sustain damages.

Answer:

$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

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$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

NONECONOMIC DAMAGES

NOTE: If you determined in QUESTION NO. 8 that plaintiff was more than 50 percent at fault, then do not answer any further questions. If you determined in QUESTION NO. 8 that plaintiff was 50 percent or less at fault, then go on to QUESTION NO. 12.

QUESTION NO. 12: What is the total amount of plaintiff’s damages to the present date for [ describe past noneconomic damages claimed by the plaintiff such as M Civ JI 50.02 Pain and Suffering, Etc., M Civ JI 50.03 Disability and Disfigurement, and M Civ JI 50.04 Aggravation of Preexisting Ailment or Condition ]?

Answer: $________.____

QUESTION NO. 13: If you find that plaintiff will sustain damages for [ describe future noneconomic damages claimed by plaintiff ] in the future, give the total amount for each year in which the plaintiff will sustain damages.

Answer:

$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

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$________.____ for [ year ]

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$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

$________.____ for [ year ]

Signed,

____________________________________ _______________________

Foreperson Date

Note on Use

This form of verdict should only be used for cases that are filed on or after March 28, 1996. 1995 PA 161, §3; 1995 PA 249, §3.

If the plaintiff is not the person upon whose injury or death the damages are based, this form of verdict must be modified.

Where there are multiple plaintiffs or defendants, the appropriate questions should be asked separately to each one.

A separate special verdict sheet should be furnished to the jury for each plaintiff and defendant.

Omit any questions that are not an issue.

This verdict form should not be used if the plaintiff is over 60 years of age.

This form of verdict is appropriate in a case in which the evidence would allow an award of damages for a twenty-year period in the future. This form must be modified by the trial judge to add or delete lines in Questions No. 10, 11, and 13 in cases where the evidence supports an award of damages for a period longer or shorter than twenty years.

This form of verdict may have to be modified if fault, such as intentional conduct, is an issue in the case. The statutory definition of fault is: “ ‘fault’ includes an act, an omission, conduct, including intentional conduct, a breach of warranty, or a breach of a legal duty, or any conduct that could give rise to the imposition of strict liability, that is a proximate cause of damage sustained by a party.” MCL 600.6304(8).

Comment

See MCL 600.6304, .6305, .6306 .

Before the enactment of 1995 PA 161, the jury was not to determine the fault of settling tort feasors. Department of Transp v Thrasher, 446 Mich 61 (1994).

In an action based on tort or another legal theory seeking damages for personal injury or wrongful death, noneconomic damages will not be awarded if the person whose injury or death the damages are based on is more than 50 percent at fault. MCL 600.2959 .

The 2007 amendment deleted the phrase “in one or more of the ways claimed” from Question 2.

History

M Civ JI 66.03 was added June 1997. Amended September 2007.