Opinion ID: 1125390
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Did the Trial Court Err in Awarding B.K. $12,000 for Future Medical Expenses?

Text: Pluid argues that the trial court erred in its determination of the amount to be awarded for B.K.'s future medical expenses. The trial court found that B.K.'s expenses would amount to $12,000, based on its conclusion that she would require weekly counseling sessions for a year and a half and yearly sessions thereafter for a total of 100 sessions of therapy. The court estimated that each session would cost $120. Pluid contends that B.K. failed to show by a preponderance of the evidence that she would require this amount of therapy. This may be true. [2] However, Pluid has misconceived the quantum of evidence necessary to support an award of damages. It is, of course, the law that the fact of damages must be proven by a preponderance of the evidence. To recover for future medical expenses one must prove to a reasonable probability that they will occur. Blumenshine v. Baptiste, 869 P.2d 470, 473 (Alaska 1994) (citing Maddocks v. Bennett, 456 P.2d 453, 458 (Alaska 1969)). Once the fact of damages has been proven to a reasonable probability, the amount of such damages, on the other hand, need only be proven to such a degree as to allow the finder of fact to reasonably estimate the amount to be allowed for [the] item [of damages]. Id. (citing Henderson v. Breesman, 77 Ariz. 256, 269 P.2d 1059, 1061-62 (1954)). The point was stated clearly by our opinion in Morrison v. State : Certainly in many cases, as is true in this case, some items of damage cannot be fixed with mathematical precision. In those instances the trial judge is necessarily forced to estimate and as long as he follows the correct rules of law, and his estimation appears reasonable and is grounded upon the evidence, his finding will remain undisturbed. 516 P.2d at 405. At trial, evidence was presented that a counseling session costs between $100 and $150. These figures, coupled with the expert's estimation of the number of counseling sessions B.K. will need to attend, provided a reasonable basis for estimating the amount of damages for B.K.'s future medical expenses. Furthermore, $12,000 is a reasonable estimation, given the above evidence, of the amount of B.K.'s future medical expenses. The trial judge did not commit clear error.