Hoffman v. Jones

Hoffman v. Jones, 280 So.2d 431 (Fla. 1973), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of Florida that was the first adoption of the comparative negligence rule in negligence law through judicial decision as opposed to adoption through statute.[1] In the wrongful death case of Hoffman v. Jones, attorney Sammy Cacciatore Jr. was instrumental in causing the Florida Supreme Court to adopt for the first time the comparative negligence rule in negligence law. William Harrison Jones Jr. was killed by a Pav-A-Way Corporation truck driven by Philip Francis Hoffman Jr. It was the first case in the nation in which a state supreme court abandoned the almost-150-year-old doctrine of contributory negligence, which precluded an injured victim from recovery if the victim had contributed to the incident to any degree. The Florida Supreme Court adopted the concept of "pure" comparative negligence, which allows a victim to be compensated for the percentage of harm caused by the at-fault person. The decision of the court in Hoffman v. Jones has been cited in law school textbooks, and now the concept of comparative negligence is the prevailing doctrine.

Hoffman v. Jones
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
Full case namePhilip Francis Hoffman, Jr., and Pav-a-Way Corporation, a Florida Corporation, Petitioners, v. Hazel J. Jones, As Administratrix of the Estate of William Harrison Jones Jr., Deceased, Respondent.
DecidedJuly 10, 1973 (1973-07-10)
Citation(s)280 So.2d 431
Case history
Appealed fromFlorida District Courts of Appeal (272 So.2d 529, 1973)
Court membership
Judges sittingVassar B. Carlton, B.K. Roberts, Richard W. Ervin, James C. Adkins, Joseph A. Boyd Jr., David L. McCain, Hal P. Dekle
Case opinions
MajorityAdkins, joined by Carlton, Ervin, Boyd, McCain, Dekle
DissentRoberts
Keywords

Impact

Hoffman was cited by the California Supreme Court as precedent for their decision to adopt a comparative negligence scheme in California.[2]

References
  1. Hoffman v. Jones, 280 So.2d 431 (Fla. 1973)
  2. Li v. Yellow Cab Company of California 13 Cal. 3d 804, 812 (1975)


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