Court Opinion

ID: 9733576
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 17:10:54.412014+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:42.468740
License: Public Domain

White, J.,
dissenting.
The majority has reversed the judgment and remanded this cause on other grounds, but has nonetheless found it necessary to advise all the parties, as well as the trial court, that the testimony by the expert witness of Nevada Bob’s was “speculative and conjectural.” I disagree with the majority’s comments concerning the adequacy of proof of damages for lost profits, as well as the advisory nature of these comments.
A trial court’s ruling in receiving or excluding an expert’s opinion will be reversed only when there has been an abuse of discretion. Fuglsang v. Blue Cross, 235 Neb. 552, 456 N.W.2d 281 (1990). Neb. Rev. Stat. § 27-702 (Reissue 1989) permits an expert to testify if his scientific, technical, or other specialized *665knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue. The witness must have sufficient skill, knowledge, experience, training, or education in order to qualify as an expert.
The majority concludes that the calculation of lost revenue sustained by Nevada Bob’s at the L.K. Company premises cannot be based on the performance of Nevada Bob’s at the new location. The majority asserts that this testimony, as well as the testimony of the company president, Reitz, was insufficient because it failed to establish that the L.K. Company location was similar to the locations with which it was compared and upon which the lost-profit figures were based. The majority does not dispute the expert status of either witness.
The evidence strongly tended to show an optimum sales potential was achieved when space available reached the desired size. To what extent the damages calculation should be discounted or credited was and is a question for the finder of fact. According to our standard of review, that finding may not be overturned unless there has been an abuse of discretion by the trial court.
I agree that in any event Nevada Bob’s is entitled only to a setoff of any damages awarded to the L.K. Company. The record contains sufficient evidence for the trial court to conclude that the lost profits of Nevada Bob’s at the L.K. Company location equaled $130,445. Therefore, since the damages of Nevada Bob’s far exceed any damages that could possibly be awarded to the L.K. Company, the L.K. Company’s claim should be dismissed and the counterclaim of Nevada Bob’s should be dismissed.
Once again the majority has seen fit to substitute its judgment for that of the trial court. I find no abuse of discretion by the trial court in this case.