Modified comparative negligence
A rule that allows recovery only if the claimant’s share of fault is below a threshold (50% or 51%, depending on the state).
What it means in practice.
Most US states use modified comparative. Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and many others apply the 51% bar; others use 50%. Above the threshold, recovery drops to zero.
Modified comparative fault reduces your damages by your share of the blame, like pure comparative fault, but adds a cut-off. Once your share reaches the bar, you recover nothing at all.
There are two versions of the bar. Under a 50% bar you lose everything if you are as much to blame as the defendants, so a 50/50 split leaves you with nothing. Under a 51% bar you lose everything only if you are more to blame than they are, so at 50% you still collect half.
The rule keeps moving. Florida switched from pure comparative fault to a 51% style bar in 2023, Louisiana followed on 1 January 2026, and New York added a bar for car crash suits under its no fault law from 26 May 2026.
How it works in different places.
| Where | How it works | Source |
|---|---|---|
| North Dakota | 50% bar: a claimant whose fault is as great as the combined fault of everyone else recovers nothing. | N.D.C.C. § 32-03.2-02, applied in Moore v. Fargo Public School District (N.D. 2012) |
| Tennessee | 50% bar: the award is reduced by your share, and you recover nothing at 50% or more. | Binns v. Trader Joe’s East (Tenn. 2024) |
| Texas | 51% bar: no recovery if your share of responsibility is greater than 50%. | Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.001, as quoted in GEICO County Mutual v. Bogale (Tex. App. 2019) |
| Florida | Since 2023, any party found greater than 50% at fault for their own harm recovers nothing; medical negligence cases keep pure comparative fault. | Fla. Stat. § 768.81(6) |
| Louisiana | Since 1 January 2026, a claimant 51% or more at fault recovers nothing. | La. C.C. art. 2323(A)(2), as amended by Act 15 of 2025 |
| New York (car crashes) | Since 26 May 2026, in no fault car crash suits a claimant whose culpable conduct is greater than the defendants’ recovers nothing. | CPLR 1411(b) |
A worked example.
Past the bar in North Dakota: Moore v. Fargo Public School District (2012)
- Injury
- A 15 year old badly hurt practising a bike stunt in a school auditorium
- Fault on the school
- 30%
- Fault on the student
- 70%
- Past medical expenses found
- $285,000
- Recovered
- Nothing
Under a pure comparative rule the family could have recovered 30% of the damages. Because the student’s share passed North Dakota’s bar, he recovered nothing, and his father could not collect 30% of the medical costs either.