When a young worker, who is married, with three children and who is earning $100,000 per year, dies after falling from a scaffold, the award, whether by verdict or settlement, should be substantial. The special damages in such a case, specifically the loss of earnings, loss of parental care and guidance and loss of services to the spouse can readily be communicated to a jury. The more difficult case, however, is when the decedent is a young adult child just starting out in life, unmarried with no children, little to no earnings history, and survived only by his parents. In such a scenario, the parents of the adult child would be the distributees entitled to compensation in the wrongful death action. This is the first of two articles discussing damages issues in such a case. This article deals with jury selection and opening statements. A future article will deal with the direct examination of the parent or parents and summation.
Wrongful Death Statute
Under the common law of England, it was not possible to maintain an action for damages for wrongful death. For years this was the state of the law in New York and many other states, depriving people who suffered the most grievous injury from seeking compensation for the loss of a loved one. In effect, it was cheaper for a defendant to kill, rather than injure, a plaintiff. In the 19th century, New York’s Legislature enacted a wrongful death statute authorizing the representative of a decedent survived by distributees to bring an action for wrongful death.
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