Singletary v. Three City Centre

158 Misc. 2d 841, 601 N.Y.S.2d 649, 1993 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 352
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedJune 16, 1993
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 158 Misc. 2d 841 (Singletary v. Three City Centre) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Singletary v. Three City Centre, 158 Misc. 2d 841, 601 N.Y.S.2d 649, 1993 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 352 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1993).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Thomas A. Standee, J.

A posttrial application was made to this court regarding interest on the above-entitled action which was tried by a jury on the issue of damages following a determination granting plaintiffs partial summary judgment. Following a jury determination on the issue of damages, the question of the applicability of CPLR article 50-B and whether preverdict interest can be awarded on future damages is before the court.

Plaintiffs herein seek interest on the total amount of the judgment (past and future damages) from June 28, 1990, when Justice Wesley granted partial summary judgment on liability. Defendant does not question plaintiffs’ entitlement to prejudgment interest on the portion of the verdict relating to past damages. (Love v State of New York, 78 NY2d 540 [1991]; Gunnarson v State of New York, 70 NY2d 923 [1987].) This entitlement would include interest on past lost earnings, past pain and suffering, and any recovery in the derivative action.

The dispute herein arises from plaintiffs’ claim that they are also entitled to prejudgment interest on amounts of future damages awarded by the jury. Our research has revealed no controlling case on point which has decided the question before us; should defendant pay preverdict interest on an award for future pain and suffering, future medical expenses, and/or loss of earnings to be incurred in the future.

The theory on awarding prejudgment interest on that portion of the verdict relating to past damages, is that the liability of defendant to plaintiff accrues at the moment the plaintiff becomes entitled to the money, when partial sum[843]*843mary judgment is granted. It is reasoned that from the point judgment is granted, defendant is holding and using plaintiffs money and plaintiff is, therefore, entitled to interest thereon.

"Once there has been a liability verdict, plaintiffs loss has been established with only the amount to be fixed. By directing defendant to pay interest from the date of the liability determination, plaintiff is made whole for the defendant’s use of the money during that period.” (Love v State of New York, 164 AD2d 155, 157, affd 78 NY2d 540 [1991], supra; Malkin v Wright, 64 AD2d 569, 571.) "The purpose of interest is to compensate a person who has been temporarily deprived of the use of moneys to which he or she is entitled”. (Love v State of New York, supra, at 157.)

We herein apply the rationale used in awarding past damage interest to the plaintiffs’ request for interest on future damages. Future damages first become due when a Judge or jury decide on the damages due plaintiff for injuries which are expected to be suffered by plaintiff, after trial, and into the future.

Unlike past damages, future damages and the liability therefor are determined at a time following trial. The trier of fact may or may not award damages for future losses and the prior partial summary judgment is of no consequence on this liability. Therefore the judicial determination of future damages is at a point in time different from the time damages are established for past damages. "Once a judicial determination has been made that a party has been wrongfully injured by another, it will, except in rare cases, trigger the commencement of the period for which interest is to be awarded as a matter of law.” (Love v State of New York, 164 AD2d 155, 157, affd 78 NY2d 540 [1991], supra; Trimboli v Scarpaci Funeral Home, 30 NY2d 687, affg 37 AD2d 386 [2d Dept 1971]; Malkin v Wright, 64 AD2d 569, 571 [1st Dept 1978], supra; see also, the decision of Justice Shirley Fingerhood in the case of Harvey v Mazal Am. Partners, NYLJ, Aug. 7, 1992, at 22, col 4.)

In the instant case, the plaintiffs did not become entitled to any damages or any award on future pain and suffering, future lost wages, or future medical expenses, until the jury returned with its verdict. When the jury reported its verdict to the court, plaintiffs became entitled to an additional judgment amount for future damages; interest on that portion of the verdict began running at that time.

[844]*844Prejudgment interest on future damages shall be, and hereby is, awarded plaintiffs from the date of the jury’s verdict to the date of payment.

CPLR Article 50-B

Next is the question of the applicability of CPLR article 50-B to this jury’s verdict. We are not, of course, determining if article 50-B applies (which it obviously does) but rather, "every Judge’s nightmare”,1 how to apply article 50-B.

Before we begin, it should be noted that we cannot determine the specifics of the matter before us. This court has heard no testimony concerning the discount rate, the current value of the award for future damages, or the plaintiffs’ attorney’s fees. However, rather than run from article 50-B, we will make certain assumptions, then apply the law as we interpret it.

The application of article 50-B to the award in the instant case will, unless the parties can otherwise stipulate, be made following an article 50-B hearing where the requisite evidence will be obtained.

For purposes of our interpretation of article 50-B, we will assume that the award by the jury for past lost earnings was $95,000, for past pain and suffering $120,000, for future lost earnings $230,000, for future pain and suffering $80,000, and for the wife’s derivative claim the sum of $45,000. (These numbers are close in the instant case and have been rounded for ease of calculating the adjustments required by the statute.)

We further assume an annual 4% increase on the annuity, a discount rate of 7.5% and that plaintiffs’ attorney’s fees are one third of the total award.

The jury herein awarded future lost earnings for a period of 10 years and future pain and suffering for a period of 26 years. It is apparent from the statute that the period of years awarded for future pain and suffering must be reduced to 10 years. Also it is clear that the derivative action of the spouse is a separate action and the award to the wife must be made by a lump-sum payment.

The court must now award an additional lump-sum payment under CPLR 5041 (b) of article 50-B. This section states in pertinent part: "The court shall enter judgment in lump [845]*845sum for past damages, for future damages not in excess of two hundred fifty thousand dollars, and for any damages, fees or costs payable in lump sum or otherwise under subdivisions (c) and (d) of this section. For the purposes of this section, any lump sum payment of a portion of future damages shall be deemed to include the elements of future damages in the same proportion as such elements comprise of the total award for future damages as determined by the trier of fact.”

Under the statute, the plaintiffs would, using our assumed numbers, be entitled to a lump sum for their past damages of lost earnings and past pain and suffering in the total amount of $215,000. In addition, the plaintiffs would be entitled to a lump-sum payment of the first $250,000 of all future damages. The attorney’s fees to this point would be $71,666 on the past damages and $83,333 on the first $250,000 of future damages.

The balance of the future damages of $60,000 must now be dealt with under CPLR 5041.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Gravatt v. City of New York
54 F. Supp. 2d 233 (S.D. New York, 1999)
Bryant v. New York City Health & Hospitals Corp.
250 A.D.2d 797 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1998)
Bermeo v. Yucel Atakent
241 A.D.2d 235 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1998)
LeFevre v. State
176 Misc. 2d 666 (New York State Court of Claims, 1998)
Molinari v. City of New York
176 Misc. 2d 523 (New York Supreme Court, 1998)
Damiano v. Exide Corp.
970 F. Supp. 222 (S.D. New York, 1997)
Reed v. Harter Chair Corp.
196 A.D.2d 123 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1994)
In Re New York Asbestos Litigation
847 F. Supp. 1086 (S.D. New York, 1994)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
158 Misc. 2d 841, 601 N.Y.S.2d 649, 1993 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 352, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/singletary-v-three-city-centre-nysupct-1993.