Damages Flashcards
The scope of this concept is limited ONLY to this material (for the purpose of the final)
Compensatory Damages
Past, Future pain;
Past, Future medical expenses;
Past, Future loss of earnings;
Permanent disability, disfigurement;
Shortened life expectancy;
Hedonic;
Consortium (includes loss of sex π«’)
Are your lost wages (stemming from the inability to work after injury) considered pure Economic Loss?
No, thatβs economic loss caused by a personal injury. So, you can recover
Considerations in Detetmining Excessive Damages
Comparable Awards;
Duplicative Damages;
Statutory Caps
Cali Medical Malpractice Non-Economic Damages are capped at
$250,000
(Iβm not sure why/how he would ever test us on this but he wrote it on the board)
What is the significance of Time-Value of Money
For past damages, you have to add interest to compensate for the fact that they did not have that money X years ago
Future damages are discounted BACK to the present value
Collateral Source Rule
If Ο has already been compensated by a collateral source (i.e Insurance, gov subsidies) the jury is not to be told
Duty to Mitigate / Avoidable Consequences
Court may say that they will only award damages that Ο would have suffered if Ο had behaved reasonably, and mitigated their damages.
(does not require extraordinary efforts on the part of the planet to mitigate their damage, just reasonable; ex: go to the doctor if ur hurt)
The difference between Survival and Wrongful Death
Survival: Ο estate β> this person suffered before they died and had they lived they themselves would have been able to sue
Wrongful Death: statutorily designated parties β> ββs negligence caused the death & damages are family suffering
Punitive Damages
State law will determine when you can get punitive damages.
Requires some kind of aggravated mental state (usually not applicable for pure negligence) This could be reckless, willful & wonton, etc.
Single Digit Multiplier
a jury verdict will be allowed to stand if the punitive award is only 9x the compensatory award
Pecuniary
economic loss, loss of wages, etc.
Non-pecuniary
Pain & suffering, loss of consortium, things not measured in $$
