Litigation

Loss of Consortium Claims

I was reading David Ball's book on damages last night. His comments on loss of consortium claims really rang true to me. His first point was that too many lawyers bring a loss of consortium claim as an afterthought, rendering the claim essentially worthless. But I think the more important point he makes is that many jurors believe that a spouse signs on for "better or worse, in sickness and in health." For a loss of consortium claim to succeed, you have to show specific and concrete harm to the spouse. Bringing a vague loss of consortium claim can harm your ability to persuade - and the non-injured spouse testimony - the jury on other issues, most importantly the compensation to the injury victim. There is generally no harm in including a loss of consortium count in the Complaint. But before trial, you need to think long and hard about whether the loss of consortium claim compromises the underlying claim.

Full post as published by Trial Lawyer Resource Center on August 24, 2007 (boomark / email).