Where Valid Legal Claims Go To Die
Our legal system is designed to serve justice. That term can be nebulous and differs according to age, race and other demographics. But suffice it to say, our legal system is not perfect and does not administer justice in every case.
Decide for yourself if that is the situation in the following instance. Some will surely say yes, some will surely say no. Let’s start with the simple rule. In civil proceedings, plaintiffs may not be compensated more than once for the same injury. This is regardless of whether multiple perpetrators caused the damage.
For example, one person is killed by two people. The death would not have occured but for the actions of BOTH people. That is, one perpetrator’s actions alone would not have been enough to cause death. The actions of both perpetrators were necessary to cause death. Therefore, both perpetratrors are culpable for the death.
Now what happens if the victim’s wife sues both perpetrators in civil court and receives $100,000 from Perp 1 to compensate them for the loss of her husband? Well, depending on the facts of the case, the wife may not be able to find a lawyer willing to represent her in her case against Perp 2.
It all depends on the lawyer’s opinion of what kind of monetary value a jury will place on the husband’s life. If the lawyer thinks a jury will say the husband’s life was worth $1 million, then the lawyer will take the case. However, depending on the lawyer, the lower the value the jury will give to the husband’s life, the less likely any lawyer will agree to represent the wife.
This is because of the one compensation rule. The wife cannot be compensated more than once for the loss of her husband. This means that if the wife sued Perp 2, the case went to trial and a jury said that Perp 2 was liable for the husband’s death and that the husband’s life was worth $100,000, then the wife would not receive any money from Perp 2 and Perp 2 would go unpunished.
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