Opinion ID: 2195687
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Evidence of Mr. Ginn's earning capacity

Text: On direct examination, Mr. Ginn was asked the following question: Assume that you are in the same physical condition that you were in just prior to the accident of June 8, 1970, and then tell us what you could earn yarding and cutting. The defendant's objection was overruled and the plaintiff answered: I figure $12,000 a year. Contrary to the defendant's contention that no foundation was developed to allow an analysis or evaluation of the underlying basis of the [plaintiff's] opinion, the Justice concluded that the witness Ginn could express such an opinion as to the worth of his services because of his background and experience, subject to further probing as to weight through the process of cross-examination. In Holmes v. Halde, 1882, 74 Me. 28, at 39, this Court stated: If, by the injuries received, the plaintiff was deprived of his capacity to perform his ordinary labor, or attend to his ordinary business, the loss he sustained thereby is an element of damages. The true test is what his services might be worth to him in his ordinary employment or business. It is not what sum he might legally recover for such services, but what he might fairly be expected to receive therefor. Thus, the issue on that aspect of the evidence was, what might the plaintiff fairly expect to receive for his work as a cutter and yarder? Such evidence would indirectly be relevant to the ultimate issue of his business loss. In Goldstein v. Sklar, Me., 1966, 216 A. 2d 298, we looked with favor upon this indirect way of proof of loss in the plaintiff's medical practice by a showing of his loss of earning capacity: Direct and specific evidence of the extent of the impairment [of earning capacity], measured in money, is not necessary; it is not essential to recovery of damages for permanent disability that there be in the evidence for purposes of comparison proof of income before and after the accident in support of diminution of earning power. Id. at 309 and cases cited. Such indirect proof of loss in a business operation may be furnished by proof of the market value of the plaintiff's services. Where the plaintiff's services were rendered in the prosecution of a business of which he was the sole owner, the value of his earning power may be the measure of the value of the services he contributed to the business, and the damages for loss of earning capacity in turn may be determined by the market value or commonly paid compensation for similar services in businesses of like nature. Lashin v. Corcoran, 1959, 146 Conn. 512, 152 A.2d 639. Again, in Baxter v. Philadelphia & R. Ry. Co., 1919, 264 Pa. 467, 107 A. 881, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that, in a wrongful death action, where plaintiff's decedent was engaged in a business, it was permissible, in proof of the value of the decendent's services to his business, to show the nature and extent of the business, the nature and extent of the injured person's contribution to it, and what the services were worth, if employed under like circumstances by another in a similar capacity. Id., 107 A. at 884. Cf. Melford v. S. V. Rossi Construction Company, Inc., 1973, 131 Vt. 219, 303 A.2d 146. The plaintiff's testimony was not an approximation of his ultimate loss. It was not a direct expression of his earning capacity. It was a statement of the market value of his services and as such could be considered by the jury as bearing upon the plaintiff's ability to earn a living. Such an expression was open to attack. The defendant could have cross-examined the witness in an attempt to discredit the plaintiff's statement and he could have introduced witnesses in contradiction. Mr. Ginn was a man of considerable experience in his trade and, based upon his experience, he was competent to express an opinion on the market value of his services. The jury could . . . find . . . that his estimates of loss were not pure fiction or fantasy but were factually grounded. Goldstein v. Sklar, supra, 216 A.2d at 309. [1]