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The Washington Pattern Instructions (WPI) Committee writes pattern jury instructions to assist the trial judge and the attorneys in preparing clear, accurate, and balanced jury instructions for individual civil cases.

Either before or after the closing arguments by the lawyers, the judge will explain the law that applies to the case to you. This is the judge's instruction to the jury. You have to apply that law to the facts, as you have heard them, in arriving at your verdict.

Jurors, you have the most important role in this trial, because you are the ones who must decide who and what to believe, and answer each of the questions that I have discussed with you. You must decide this case based only on the evidence presented at the trial. You may not decide this case based on anything else.

(B) "Special jury instructions," meaning instructions from other sources, those specially prepared by the party, or approved instructions that have been substantially modified by the party.

What are Jury Instructions? Jury instructions tell the jury what the laws are that govern a particular case. Each attorney gives the judge a set of proposed jury instructions. The judge considers each instruction and gives the one that properly states the law that applies to the case.

The "beyond reasonable doubt" standard, used by criminal juries in the United States to determine guilt for a crime, also contrasts with probable cause which courts hold requires an unquantified level of proof well above that of probable cause's 51%.

There are three burdens of proof that exist for most cases: proof beyond a reasonable doubt, clear and convincing evidence, and preponderance of the evidence.

WPI 11.01 (7th ed.) Contributory negligence is negligence on the part of a person claiming injury or damage that is a proximate cause of the injury or damage claimed. Use this instruction if there is an issue of contributory negligence. Do not use this instruction in a case involving an intentional tort by a defendant.

A party must persuade you, by the evidence presented in court, that what he or she is required to prove is more likely to be true than not true. This is referred to as "the burden of proof."