Damages
Through damages the plaintiff
should be compensated in a
way that places the person
injured by the defendant into
a position he or she would
have been in had the
defendant not injured her
� Medical expenses
Includes all charges for treatment of the injury up to the
date of the trial
Economic Losses
Caused by
Physical Injury
Generally include awards for medical expenses to treat the
injury and for lost wages
Future medical expenses
Plaintiff is entitled to recover the cost of all future
medical treatments or nursing care that may be
needed
� Economic loss
Includes wages lost before trial, as well as all wages that
will be lost in the future as a result of the inability to work
resulting from the injury
...
� The plaintiff's present wages
� Expected wage growth
� Years of work expectancy
� Subtraction for other employment in mitigation
� Discounting to present value
� Determination of the tax effect on the award
SEFFERT V. LOS ANGELES TRANSIT LINES
An appellate court may only interfere with the amount of a damages award where it shocks the conscience and
indicates passion, prejudice, or corruption on the part of the jurors
Non
-Economic
Losses: Pain and
Suffering
Pain is the physical pain
that plaintiff suffers from
his injuries
Suffering is the
psychological pain that
the plaintiff feels because
of his condition
MCDOUGALD V. CARTER
Rule:
Some degree of cognitive awareness of loss by the plaintiff is a prerequisite to recovery for loss of enjoyment of life.
Collateral benefits rule
Helfend v. Southern California Rapid Transit District
Under the collateral-source rule, if an injured party receives compensation for his injuries from a source
wholly independent of the tortfeasor, this payment cannot be deducted from the damages that th
Future Damages
and Discounting
to Present Value
Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. v.
Pfeifer
Rule:
In calculating damages for lost future income, a court can take into account foreseeable promotions,
foreseeable growth in the industry, and estimated future price inflation, but can offset that total by an
es
Mitigation of Damages
A rule requiring a plaintiff to have done whatever was reasonable to minimize the damages caused by the defendant.
Punitive Damages
Monetary damages that may be awarded to a plaintiff to punish the defendant and deter similar conduct in the future.
State Farm Mutual Automobile
Insurance Co. v. Campbell
Awards of punitive damages by state courts that exceed a single-digit ratio between
punitive damages and compensatory damages are usually "grossly excessive" and
violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment