Consumer Law

What Is Contributory Negligence And How Does It Apply To A Consumer Case In Alabama?

By M. Stan Herring

On our personal injury blog - Birmingham Injury Blog - we discussed "Contributory Negligence" in the context of a car wreck or truck wreck lawsuit. We are asked how this applies to consumer litigation claims.

Often we bring state law claims under Alabama law when we file suit for Alabama consumers. These laws include defamation, invasion of privacy, malicious conduct, and negligence. When negligence is pled, defendants will often raise the defense of contributory negligence which basically means if you are at fault in even the slightest, your claim can be barred. There are exceptions but this gives you the general idea.

So if you have brought a consumer claim and wonder why the defendant pled contributory negligence just understand the defendant is arguing that you did something wrong and that should bar your Alabama state law negligence claim.

If you have not yet filed a lawsuit and believe a debt collector, mortgage service provider or credit reporting agency has violated not only federal but also state law, please feel free to contact us for a free consultation.

Full post as published by Alabama Consumer Blog on January 04, 2009 (boomark / email).