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Calculating Lost Profit Damages: The Missouri Supreme Court Semi-Fixed The Variable Appellate Caselaw, Jennifer Koboldt Bukowsky

Missouri Law Review

Prior to Ameristar Jet Charter, Inc. v. Dodson International Parts, Inc., a split of authority existed among appellate cases in Missouri as to how to calculate lost profit damages. One line of cases stood for the proposition that all overhead expenses, including fixed expenses, should be deducted from estimated lost revenues to determine lost profit damages. Another set of cases explicitly refused to deduct all overhead; those courts only deducted variable expenses from estimated lost revenue to determine lost profit damages. The Missouri Supreme Court resolved this conflict in a unanimous decision in Ameristar. The court held that fixed expenses …