Reitano v Shearer

In the matter of Reitano v Shearer, the appeal concerned the quantum of damages awarded to a 17-year-old girl who sustained a spinal injury during a motor vehicle accident. The trial judge found that the collision exacerbated her pre-existing spinal degeneration, resulting in the award of damages. The appellant challenged the judgment, arguing that the trial judge had failed to make awards for past and future gratuitous care and future special damages, and that the general damages and future economic loss awards were inadequate. The High Court of Australia heard the appeal.

The court was required to determine whether the trial judge's findings regarding the awards for past and future gratuitous care and future special damages were correct, and if the awards for general damages and future economic loss were appropriate. This required an analysis of the evidence presented at trial and an assessment of the reasonableness of the trial judge's decisions. The court also needed to consider whether the appellant's arguments regarding the inadequacy of the awards had merit.

The court found that the trial judge's failure to make awards for past and future gratuitous care and future special damages was an error, and that the awards for general damages and future economic loss were indeed inadequate. The court held that the appellant was entitled to compensation for these omissions and that the overall quantum of damages should be increased. As a result, the appeal was allowed, the original judgment was set aside, and a new judgment in the amount of $149,376 was substituted. The court also granted leave for the parties to submit written arguments regarding the variation of costs orders and the imposition of costs in the appeal.