Chapter 11 - § 11.8 PREJUDGMENT INTEREST AS AN ELEMENT OF DAMAGES

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 11.8 PREJUDGMENT INTEREST AS AN ELEMENT OF DAMAGES

The Wrongful Death Act, C.R.S. § 13-21-203(1), contains several limitations on "recoverable" damages, including a limitation on recovery of non-economic damages and a limitation on the total damages recoverable for the death of an unmarried child who dies without leaving descendants or dependent parents. As discussed below, prejudgment interest, which is recoverable under C.R.S. § 13-21-101 in personal injury actions, is an element of compensatory damages. Since the statute places limitations on the total damages recoverable, it follows that the limitations apply to prejudgment interest, not simply the amount awarded by the jury. In other words, the limitations on the total amount recoverable apply both to any damages awarded by the jury and prejudgment interest, and judgment, including prejudgment interest, should not exceed the statutory limitations. However, it should be noted that this particular issue has not yet been addressed by any appellate court in Colorado.

In Morris v. Goodwin, 185 P.3d 777 (Colo. 2008), a medical malpractice action, the court addressed a different issue regarding prejudgment interest, holding that the plaintiff was not entitled to recover prejudgment interest on the gross amount of the jury's award, but only on the amount of the verdict after reduction to the $250,000 statutory cap contained in the Colorado Health Care Availability Act, C.R.S. § 13-64-302(1)(b).

The plaintiff brought a wrongful death action, alleging that her husband died as a result of receiving negligent medical care from Dr. Morris. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff and apportioned 88 percent of the fault to Dr. Morris and 12 percent to the decedent. After reduction by 12 percent, the jury's awards for non-economic and economic damages were $982,520 and $1,657,480. The trial court then reduced the non-economic damages to $250,000, as required by C.R.S. § 13-64-302(1)(b). Thus, the total judgment was $1,917,480. The trial court ruled that prejudgment interest should be awarded on that amount, rather than on the amount of the verdict before it was reduced by the statutory cap on non-economic damages. The plaintiff appealed, arguing that prejudgment interest should have been awarded on the...