Utting v Clark

The Full Federal Court heard an appeal in *Utting v Clark* concerning the assessment of damages for a future pain condition. The appellant, Mr. Utting, had suffered an injury and was awarded damages by the trial judge for a period of 12 months, based on the likelihood that his pain condition would resolve within that time. Mr. Utting argued that the damages should have been assessed for his entire working life, with a discount applied to account for the chance of an earlier recovery.

The central legal issue before the Full Federal Court was whether the trial judge had erred in awarding damages for a fixed period of 12 months, rather than assessing them for the plaintiff's entire working life and then discounting for the possibility of early recovery. This involved determining the correct approach to assessing damages for a future condition where there is uncertainty about its duration.

The Full Federal Court dismissed the appeal, upholding the trial judge's assessment. The Court reasoned that the trial judge had properly considered the evidence regarding the likely duration of the pain condition. The judge had found that there was a significant chance of recovery within 12 months, and that the condition was unlikely to persist for the plaintiff's entire working life. The Court affirmed that where there is a chance of recovery, damages can be awarded for a fixed period, provided that this assessment reflects the probabilities established by the evidence. The principle applied was that damages should be awarded to compensate for the loss that is likely to occur, taking into account the probabilities of future events.

The appeal was dismissed.