Clifton v Lewis

In *Clifton v Lewis*, the plaintiff, Mr. Clifton, appealed a decision of the trial judge concerning damages awarded for personal injury sustained in a negligence claim against Mr. Lewis. The appeal focused on the trial judge's assessment of both non-economic loss and future economic loss.

The primary legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the trial judge erred in assessing the plaintiff's non-economic loss at 33 per cent of a most extreme case, and whether the trial judge erred in assessing future economic loss. Specifically, regarding future economic loss, the court considered whether the trial judge was entitled to assess the plaintiff's potential advancement to an Operations Manager position, even though this was not specifically pleaded or particularised, and whether the trial judge erred in assessing a buffer for future economic loss without explicit medical evidence stating the plaintiff's earning capacity was impaired.

The Court of Appeal held that the trial judge's assessment of non-economic loss was an evaluative judgment that did not involve taking into account irrelevant considerations or wrongly assessing medical evidence, and therefore no error was found in the exercise of discretion. Regarding future economic loss, the court found that the trial judge was entitled to assess the plaintiff as a person who would have advanced to an Operations Manager position, as the case had expanded at trial beyond the initial particulars and the evidence supported this assessment. Furthermore, the court confirmed that medical evidence does not need to expressly state that earning capacity is impaired; rather, such a finding can be made on all the relevant evidence, provided it is consistent with the plaintiff's evidence of work incapacity. The trial judge's assessment of a buffer for future economic loss was therefore not erroneous.

The appeal was dismissed with costs.