The Maryland Chamber strongly opposes HB 110, the Maryland Comparative Negligence Act, which would replace Maryland’s standard of contributory negligence with a standard of comparative fault. If passed, this bill would needlessly overturn 150 years of Maryland case law and expose Maryland businesses to more lawsuits and greater damage awards.

Under our current system of contributory negligence, if both parties to a lawsuit have contributed to the injury, they should pay their own damages and be barred from recovering against each other. If HB 110 passed, a person could recover damages for death or injury to an individual or property damage, as long as the negligence of the plaintiff was less than the negligence of the defendant. The Maryland Chamber believes this would lead to more lawsuits, larger damage awards, and increased insurance costs.

The House Judiciary Committee will hear HB 110 next Wednesday, February 7. The Chamber urges you to contact your legislators and urge them to oppose this legislation. We will issue a legislative alert later this week.