The purpose of damages (i.e., a money award from a judge/jury) is to make a plaintiff whole. With a contract case, for instance, the goal is to “restore a plaintiff to the position he would have been in had the contract not been breached.” Lipton Rlty v. St. Louis Housing Authority, 705 S.W.2d 565, 569 (Mo….
Legal Articles
Proving Damages in Defamation
Defamation is a very difficult, amorphous claim. Most potential defamation claims are not pursued because it can be very difficult to prove damages. A “plaintiff must prove actual damages in all defamation cases.” Nazeri v. Mo. Valley Coll., 860 S.W.2d 303, 313 (Mo. 1993) . Stated differently, “[p]roof of actual reputational harm is an absolute…
Damages in Real Estate Nuisance Cases
A nuisance lawsuit exists when there is an “unreasonable, unusual, or unnatural use of one’s property so that it substantially impairs the right of another to enjoy his property.” Basham v. City of Cuba, 257 S.W.3d 650, 653 (Mo. Ct. App. 2008). If there is a nuisance, the measure of damages depends on whether the…
Challenging Excessive Jury Verdicts
While it is difficult to prevail on the argument, it is possible for a trial court or appellate court to overturn a jury’s damages/money award as “excessive” in at least two circumstances. The first situation is when the verdict is disproportionate to the evidence of injury and results from an “honest mistake” by the jury…
Calculating Damage for Breach of Trust Claims
A violation by a trustee of a duty the trustee owes to a beneficiary is a breach of trust. Section 456.10-1001.1 RSMo; Weldon Revocable Trust v. Weldon, 231 S.W.3d 158, 179 (Mo. Ct. App. 2007). Assuming a beneficiary is able to establish a breach of trust, the measure of damage is a different analysis. Generally,…
Breach of Fiduciary Duty/Trust, Causation, Trustee Discretion
Breach of trust is a type of breach of fiduciary duty. “To prevail on a breach of fiduciary duty, a plaintiff must show: (1) the existence of a fiduciary duty; (2) a breach of that fiduciary duty; (3) causation; and (4) harm.” Matter of Wilma G. James Trust, 487 S.W.3d 37 (Mo. Ct. App. 2016)….
Comparative Fault/Negligence; Contributory Fault/Negligence
The law in Missouri used to be that contributory negligence was a complete bar to a plaintiff recovering any damages against a defendant for negligence. Under the contributory negligence rule, a plaintiff was prohibited from recovering damages if the plaintiff’s own negligence directly contributed in any way to the injuries. Gramex Corp. v. Green Supply,…
One Satisfaction Rule, Damages
A plaintiff is entitled to “one satisfaction” of the same wrong. Echols v. City of Riverside, 332 S.W.3d 207, 212 (Mo. Ct. App. 2010). In other words, while a plaintiff may pursue damages from different parties and sources, the plaintiff cannot recover more than the plaintiff’s damages and thereby be put in a better condition…
Proximate Cause, Intervening Cause
For a plaintiff to prevail in most civil suits, it must prove that the defendant’s conduct proximately caused the complained of damages. “Proximate cause” typically exists when any harm is the “natural and probable result” of certain conduct. Tompkins v. Cervantes, 917 S.W.2d 186, 190 (Mo. Ct. App. 1996). Whether proximate cause exists is usually…
Breach of Trust: Causation and Damages
To succeed on a breach of trust claim, a plaintiff must prove (1) the existence of a fiduciary duty, (2) breach of the duty, (3) causation and (4) harm. Brown v. Brown 530 S.W.3d 35, 41 (Mo. Ct. App. 2017). Causation and damages cannot rest upon “guesswork, conjecture or speculation beyond inferences that can reasonably…