Court Opinion

ID: 9603244
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 02:04:24.624437+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:09.932659
License: Public Domain

HERNANDEZ, Judge (dissenting). I respectfully dissent. There is substantial evidence in the record that the plaintiff is wholly unable to perform the usual tasks in the work he was performing at the time of his injury. However, the evidence presented by the plaintiff that he is wholly unable to perform any work for which he is fitted by age, éducation, training, general physical and mental capacity, and previous work experience, is unsubstantial. The record shows that the plaintiff was 32 years old, of average to above average intelligence, highly motivated and hard working. He was a high school graduate who had some additional training in the army as an automobile mechanic. At the time of trial he was taking courses in English, mathematics and psychology at the branch college of New Mexico State University at Grants. Dr. Wilson, one of the doctors who had operated on him in 1975 and had continued to treat him, testified that the plaintiff could do sedentary work but that he could not give a percentage figure as to the degree of plaintiff’s disability, however, “I would guesstimate that it would probably be somewhere in the area of forty percent at this point.” The plaintiff testified that he did not know what he could do. The plaintiff failed to carry the burden of proof as to this element. Defendant’s fourth point of error is well taken. Any claim that the plaintiff might have arising out of the accident in 1971 is barred by the limitation period. See Section 59-10-13.6 of the act. The trial court should have ruled that the claim was barred as a matter of law and dismissed it. Defendant’s fifth point of error is also well taken. Considering the issues, the proceedings, etc., it is my opinion that the trial court abused its discretion in awarding attorney’s fees on a percentage basis and in the amount that it did.