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Consideration Of Tax Aspects In Awarding Damages For Personal Injuries, Doris B. Gorman

Vanderbilt Law Review

The recent decision of the House of Lords, in British Transport Commission v. Gourley has completely changed the English position on the question of whether income taxes should be considered in determining personal injury damages based on actual or prospective loss of earnings. The House of Lords held that the lower court should have taken the tax aspects into account and that the damage award must be reduced accordingly. By this holding, the House of Lords overruled Jordan v. The Limmer And Trinidad Lake Asphalt Co. and Billingham v. Hughes, which until then represented the ruling law in England on …