8.11 DAMAGES CHARGES — GENERAL
E. DISABILITY, IMPAIRMENT AND LOSS OF THE ENJOYMENT OF LIFE, PAIN AND SUFFERING
If you find for [Plaintiff], [he]
[she] is entitled to recover fair and reasonable compensation for
the full extent of the harm and losses caused, no more and no less.
Fair and reasonable compensation means
to make [Plaintiff] whole for
any permanent or temporary injury and the consequences of that injury (or
injuries) caused by the defendant’s negligence (or other fault).
The law on compensation recognizes
that a plaintiff may recover for any disability or impairment that he or she
suffers as a result of his or her injuries.
Disability or impairment means worsening, weakening or loss of
faculties, health or ability to participate in activities. The law also permits a plaintiff to recover
for the loss of enjoyment of life, which means the inability to pursue one's
normal pleasure and enjoyment.[1] You must determine how the injury has deprived
[Plaintiff] of [his] [her] customary activities as a whole person.[2] This measure of compensation is what a
reasonable person would consider to be adequate and just under all the
circumstances of the case to make [Plaintiff] whole for [his] [her] injury and [his] [her] consequent disability, impairment, and the loss of the
enjoyment of life. The law also
recognizes as proper items for recovery, the pain, physical and mental
suffering, discomfort, and distress that a person may endure as a natural consequence
of the injury. Again, this item of
recovery is what a reasonable person would consider to be adequate and just
under all the circumstances to compensate [Plaintiff].
Here are some factors you may want to
take into account when fixing the amount of the verdict for disability
impairment, loss of enjoyment of life, pain and suffering. You may consider [Plaintiff’s] age, usual activities, occupation, family responsibilities and similar
relevant facts in evaluating the probable consequences of any injuries you find
[he] [she] has suffered. You are to
consider the nature, character and seriousness of any injury, discomfort or
disfigurement. You must also consider
their duration, as any verdict you make must cover the harms and losses suffered
by [Plaintiff] since the
accident, to the present time, and even into the future if you find that [Plaintiff's] injury and its
consequence have continued to the present time or can reasonably be expected to
continue into the future.
The law does not provide you with any
table, schedule or formula by which a person's pain and suffering, disability,
impairment, and loss of enjoyment of life may be measured in terms of
money. The amount is left to your sound
discretion. You are to use your sound discretion
to attempt to make the plaintiff whole, so far as money can do so, based upon
reason and sound judgment, without any passion, prejudice, bias or
sympathy. You each know from your common
experience the nature of pain and suffering, disability, impairment and loss of
enjoyment of life and you also know the nature and function of money. The task of equating the two so as to arrive
at a fair and reasonable award of compensation requires a high order of human
judgment. For this reason, the law can
provide no better yardstick for your guidance than your own impartial judgment
and experience.
You are to exercise sound judgment as
to what is fair, just and reasonable under all the circumstances. You should, of course, consider the testimony
of [Plaintiff] on the
subject of [his] [her] discomforts. You
should also scrutinize all the other evidence presented by both parties on this
subject, including the testimony of the doctors. After considering the evidence, you shall
award a lump sum of money that will fairly and reasonably compensate [Plaintiff] for [his] [her] pain, suffering, disability, impairment, and loss of enjoyment of life
proximately caused by defendant’s negligence (or other fault).
Cases:
Simmel v.
N.J. Coop Co., 28 N.J. 1 (1958). See
also Botta v. Brunner, 26 N.J. 82 (1958); Mengle v.
Shields, 53 N.J. Super. 76 (App. Div. 1958).
Damages may
be awarded for future disability and impairment. Coll v. Sherry, 29 N.J. 166
(1959).
Damages may be awarded for mental or nervous impairment
consequent upon a physical injury. Greenberg
v. Stanley, 51 N.J. Super. 90 (App. Div. 1958).
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