PJC General Negligence 2024

P ERSONAL I NJURY D AMAGES

PJC 28.5

230. If there is any question about the sufficiency of the evidence to support one or more of the elements, the Committee recommends that the elements of damages be separately submitted to the jury as above. Exemplary damages. If exemplary damages are sought, economic damages must be determined separately from the amount of other damages. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §41.008(a). “Economic damages” means “compensatory damages intended to compensate a claimant for actual economic or pecuniary loss.” Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §41.001(4). Economic damages as used in the formula to cap exemplary damages in Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §41.008(b) include “existing in fact, real monetary losses like lost wages, the cost to obtain services that another previ ously provided for free or at a lower cost, or that the defendant’s misconduct com pelled the claimant to seek out.” Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. Rogers , 538 S.W.3d 637, 652 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2017, pet. denied). Broad-form submission of elements. For an example of a broad-form submis sion of damages elements, see PJC 28.3 comment, “Broad-form submission of ele ments.” Instruction not to reduce amounts because of plaintiff’s negligence. If the plaintiff’s negligence is also in question, the exclusionary instruction given in this PJC immediately before the elements of damages is proper. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §33.001; Tex. R. Civ. P. 277. This instruction should be omitted if there is no claim of the plaintiff’s negligence. Also, if an exclusionary instruction for failure to mitigate damages is required, this instruction should be modified. See PJC 28.9. Scope of comments to PJC 28.5. The comments to PJC 28.5 address only those issues particular to the submission of personal injury damages of a minor child. For additional issues that may arise with respect to the submission of personal injury dam ages generally, see PJC 28.3.

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