Opinion ID: 216819
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Legal Standard for Compensatory Damages Under Kentucky Law

Text: We briefly review the applicable law governing compensatory damages. Under Kentucky law, a successful tort plaintiff may recover compensatory damages arising from the defendant's tortious conduct. The existence of these damages must be proved to a reasonable certainty. See, e.g., Morgan v. Lanham, No. 2009-CA-001412, 2011 WL 918735, at  (Ky.Ct.App. Mar. 18, 2011) (emphasis omitted). Additionally, the defendant's tortious conduct must be the proximate cause of the damages. As the Kentucky Supreme Court has explained, [p]roximate cause . . . consists of a finding of causation in fact, i.e., substantial cause, as well as legal causation, meaning the absence of a public policy rule of law which prohibits the imposition of liability. Deutsch v. Shein, 597 S.W.2d 141, 144 (Ky.1980). With regard to legal causation, Kentucky courts look to foreseeability: it is not necessary that the defendant should have been able to anticipate the precise injury sustained, or to foresee the particular consequences, but only that the injury is a natural and probable consequence of the tortious conduct. Louisville Gas & Elec. Co. v. Roberson, 212 S.W.3d 107, 112 (Ky.2006) (Wintersheimer, J., concurring) (citing Eaton v. Louisville & N.R. Co., 259 S.W.2d 29 (Ky.1953)); see also Pile v. City of Brandenburg, 215 S.W.3d 36, 42 (Ky. 2006) (noting that an intervening cause may break the chain of causation if it is of an independent origin, unassociated with the underlying tortious conduct).