Section 14 Interpretation and Application of “Capable of Ascertainment”

• Library: Damages 2012

The phrase “capable of ascertainment” has never been given a precise definition, although various sound bites have been used in its description. Bus. Men’s Assurance Co. of Am. v. Graham, 984 S.W.2d 501, 507 (Mo. banc 1999). Rather than referring to the exact amount of damages, the phrase refers to the fact of damage. Id. “It has [also] been construed to mean ‘the moment that plaintiff’s damages are substantially complete.’” Id.

The Supreme Court of Missouri discussed the phrase “capable of ascertainment” in some detail:

[I]f damages are not capable of...