Neg: Damages Flashcards
How are compensatory damages generally demonstrated?
A causal connection must be established between each type of harm and D’s conduct
What are the 3 types of personal injury compensatory damages?
1) Past and future earnings
2) Past and future medical expenses
3) Past and future pain and suffering
Explain how future earnings capacity is determined
- If P was already an established employee, they can use past statistics to project what the individual would earn
- If P wasn’t already an established employee, it’s determined by “potential” (family’s status, P’s theoretical goals)
- P must prove with reasonable certainty
What is the Collateral Source Rule?
Generally, damages aren’t reduced or mitigated if P receives benefits from other sources (i.e. health insurance, disability benefits); D still must pay those amounts
What is P’s duty to mitigate damages?
Damages must be reasonable and necessary; P must seek proper treatment to prevent aggravation of injury. D isn’t responsible for extra damages if P unreasonably exacerbates the injury
What qualifies as “pain and suffering”?
- Physical pain: trauma from accident, treatment, healing process
- Mental Suffering: anxiety, depression, sexual dysfunction
- emotional distress: worry, grief, humiliation, PTSD
- P must provide substantive evidence of severe and permanent injuries
What is Loss of Enjoyment of Life?
- Compensates for loss of ability to partake in amenities of life (i.e. an active person who can’t swim anymore)
- P must be aware of the loss; those in vegetative state aren’t awarded these damages because they can’t comprehend what they’ve lost
Why do courts award punitive damages?
- punishes wrongdoer
- deters others from same wrong behavior
- awarded for more than simple negligence - intentional, reckless, fraud, malice
What factors are considered in awarding punitive damages?
- degree and awareness of misconduct
- whether D profited from misconduct
- concealment
- D’s conduct upon discovery of misconduct
What are the Due Process Guidelines for punitive damages?
1) punishment should fit the crime
2) D should have reasonable notice of sanction for wrongful act
3) damages are based on the wrong done, not the parties’ statuses
What are wrongful death damages?
- compensate family for lost benefits the victim would have provided if they’d survived
- loss of economic benefit, loss of consortium, funeral expenses
- not loss of enjoyment
- statute determines who can collect (always spouse and immediate family, sometimes others)
What are 2 limitations on damages?
1) jury award isn’t changed unless it’s contrary to evidence and is a clear abuse
2) trial court may propose a new trial unless the parties accept additur or remitter
What is additur?
If a jury returns an award that is so low it is grossly inadequate and shocks the judicial conscience, the judge can award an additur to make the damages more reasonable. D must agree to the additur or undergo a new trial.
What is remitter?
The opposite of additur; a judge can reduce the damages if the jury’s award is grossly extravagant, disproportionate to the P’s harm
How does race affect damages awarded?
- race-based data can’t be used to find a reduced life expectancy to award fewer damages
- assessing damages based on race violates equal protection and due process
