Q: If Jay Foster files a lawsuit on my car wreck case and it goes to trial, am I entitled to a separate jury instruction for loss of enjoyment of life?

A: Unfortunately, the answer is no.  Since our legislature routinely votes in favor of insurance companies, they have consistently limited the types of recovery that an injured person can get.  The legislature has also consistently limited the amount of compensation you can receive.  Apparently, our legislature believes that we are smart enough to decide if someone can live or die in a death penalty case but we are not smart enough to decide how much money an injured person should receive.

At our offices, we realize that it is hard to place ourselves in another's shoes, but if it were your child who was horribly injured or even killed by a drunk driver, would you want a price put on their life by our government?  In regards to this question, Section 11-1-69 of the Mississippi Code provides the answer.  It states, "In any civil action for personal injury there may be a recovery for pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life.  However, there shall be no recovery for loss of enjoyment of life as a separate element of damages apart from pain and suffering damages, and there shall be no instruction given to the jury which separates loss of enjoyment of life from pain and suffering.  The determination of the existence and extent of recovery for pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life shall be a question for the finder of fact, subject to appellate review, and the monetary value of the pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life shall not be made the subject of expert testimony.  (2) In any wrongful death action, there shall be no recovery for loss of enjoyment of life caused by death."

This statute became effective in January 2003.