Four systems, and New Jersey uses the more common threshold
American fault law splits into four real categories: pure comparative negligence, modified comparative negligence with a 50% bar, modified comparative negligence with a 51% bar, and pure contributory negligence. New Jersey uses the 51% bar under NJSA 2A:15-5.1 — the more typical of the two modified thresholds nationally.
Where New Jersey genuinely stands apart: a higher joint-liability line
New Jersey layers a separate, genuinely distinctive threshold on top of the standard 51% recovery bar. Under NJSA 2A:15-5.3, a defendant must reach 60% fault — not just 50% — before being held jointly and severally liable for the entire damage award. This is notably higher than the 50% threshold some neighboring states use for the same kind of trigger, meaning a New Jersey defendant has more room before facing full exposure beyond their own proportional share.
The stricter alternative: a 50% bar
A smaller group of about 12 states, including Georgia and Kansas, use a stricter version of the recovery-bar question: recovery is barred the moment the claimant's fault is equal to the defendant's, not only when it exceeds it.
Pure comparative negligence and contributory negligence: the two extremes
At the more forgiving end of the spectrum, pure comparative negligence states like California never bar recovery for ordinary fault at all. At the far stricter end, the five contributory negligence jurisdictions — Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and DC — bar recovery entirely for any fault, even 1%. See our guide to the other states using a 51% bar for New Jersey's closest peer group nationally.