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CallAmir.com · Maryland Personal Injury · Article 01

Maryland's 1% Rule

How a Single Word to an Insurance Adjuster Can Cost You Everything

Maryland is one of only four states in the country that still follows the old common-law rule of "contributory negligence." Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland. Everywhere else — every other state in the union — has moved to some form of "comparative negligence," where if you are partially at fault for what happened to you, your damages get reduced by your share of the fault, but you can still recover something.

Not in Maryland. In this state, if the defense can prove you were even one percent at fault for the crash, the fall, the collision, or the harm — you recover nothing. The case is over. The medical bills stay yours. The lost wages stay yours. The pain stays yours.

This rule is the single most dangerous trap in a Maryland personal injury case. Not the surgery costs. Not the time off work. The rule itself.

How Maryland Ended Up Here

How did Maryland end up here when nearly every other state moved on? The Maryland Court of Appeals — now called the Supreme Court of Maryland — had the chance to abandon contributory negligence in a 2013 decision called _Coleman v. Soccer Association of Columbia_. The court declined. It reasoned that this was a question for the General Assembly, not the courts. The Legislature has not changed it. So here we are, operating under a rule that most American lawyers consider a museum piece.

That history matters because it tells you something important: the defense bar and the insurance industry know this rule, they rely on it, and they have spent decades teaching their adjusters and lawyers how to use it.

How Adjusters Use the Rule Against Injured People

Here is how it plays out in real life.

A driver is stopped at a red light on Route 1, or Route 50, or somewhere on the Beltway. Someone slams into the back of their car going forty miles per hour. The neck is injured. The lower back is injured. Eight weeks of work are missed. The other driver admits at the scene to looking at a phone. To the injured family, the case looks open and shut.

Then the at-fault driver's insurance adjuster calls a few days later. Pleasant voice. Maybe introduces themselves as "Sarah from the claims team." They say they just want to "get your side of the story" so they can "process the claim." They will probably mention that they want to record the call "for quality assurance."

Then come the questions:

• Were you watching your rearview mirror?
• Did you see the vehicle approaching?
• Could you have moved your car out of the way?
• Were your brake lights working that day?
• Had you been on your phone at all that morning?

Each one of those questions is engineered. They are not gathering facts. They are looking for any answer — any single phrase — that a defense lawyer could later argue is one percent fault. Because that is all the defense needs in Maryland.

⚠ How real cases collapse Real cases, with real injuries, have collapsed because the injured person, trying to be polite and helpful, said something like "I guess I could have braked a little sooner," or "Maybe I was going a touch fast," or "I didn't really see them coming." Once those words are on a recorded line, they follow the case to verdict.

The Narrow Escape Hatches

Maryland law does have some narrow doctrines that can save a case where the contributory negligence rule would otherwise destroy it. They are real. They are not loopholes. But they are not a substitute for protecting yourself from day one.

★ Last clear chance If the defendant had a final, clear opportunity to avoid the harm — and failed to take it — a Maryland jury can find for the plaintiff even if the plaintiff was technically negligent at some earlier point. This is the doctrine that sometimes saves the pedestrian who stepped off a curb too soon but was clearly visible to the driver for several seconds before impact.

★ Age of the injured person Children under five years old in Maryland are presumed legally incapable of negligence. Children between five and seven enjoy a rebuttable presumption — the defense must prove the child was capable of negligence given their age and development. Older children are judged by what a reasonable child of their age and experience would do.

★ Wanton, reckless, or intentional conduct Maryland's contributory negligence rule does not protect a defendant whose behavior was wanton, reckless, or intentional. A drunk driver. A road-rage assault behind the wheel. A defendant who acted with conscious disregard for human safety. These cases can follow a different legal path.

These doctrines work. They have rescued cases the defense thought it had already won. But a case should never be planned around them. A case should be built around not giving the defense ammunition in the first place.

What This Means for You Right Now

So what does the 1% rule mean for you, today, if you or someone you love has just been hurt?

⚠ Do not speak to the other side's insurance company Not their adjuster. Not their lawyer. Not their "field investigator." Not even to "set the record straight." Politeness is not a legal defense. A recorded statement is forever, and the person on the other end of that line is not your friend, no matter how their voice sounds.

⚠ Do not post on social media Do not post about the crash, the injuries, the recovery, or any activities. Make your profiles private and stop posting until the case is resolved. Defense lawyers will screenshot a single photograph from a birthday party and argue to a Maryland jury that a back injury has been exaggerated.

⚠ Do not skip medical treatment Gaps in treatment — the two weeks of physical therapy skipped while trying to tough it out — get used against injured people every single day in Maryland courtrooms. If a doctor says come back, go back.

⚠ Document everything — privately Write down what happened while it is fresh. Names of witnesses. Their phone numbers. Weather. Lighting. Where you were looking when the impact happened. Save it somewhere private. Do not post it.

And get a Maryland personal injury attorney involved before making decisions that cannot be undone. The first conversations after a crash — with adjusters, with body shops, with your own insurance company, with well-meaning friends — are often the conversations that decide whether anything can be recovered at all.

The Bigger Picture

Maryland's contributory negligence rule is harsh. Many lawyers in this state believe it is overdue for reform. But it is the law right now, and pretending otherwise will not protect an injured family from it.

The rule cuts both ways. A Maryland jury that understands what happened — that knows the defendant truly caused this harm — can return a full verdict for the injured plaintiff.

Maryland juries are not robots. They are your neighbors. And when a case is built properly, documented properly, and tried properly, this state's courts deliver real justice for injured people.

The work is in the preparation. It starts on day one.

This article is for general educational purposes only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Maryland law changes, and every case turns on its own facts. If you or someone you love has been injured, speak with a Maryland personal injury attorney about your specific situation before making any decisions.

If you have been injured in Maryland, do not speak to the defendant's insurance company, their adjuster or attorney — it may jeopardize your case. Contact The Guerami Law Firm, LLC through CallAmir.com for a confidential consultation with Amir Guerami and his team.