Legal Memorandum: Jury Awards for Disfigurement Injuries in IL

Issue: Under Illinois law, what is the range of recoveries plaintiffs have received for personal injuries that resulted in disfigurements?

A broad search of cases in Westlaw’s Illinois cases database from the last 20 years or so revealed the following reported cases*FN1 involving plaintiffs with primary injuries that resulted in disfigurement.  The cases are in order by the amount the jury awarded, without considering reductions for comparative negligence, reversals based on evidentiary errors, etc., thus illustrating the range of jury awards for similar injuries.

• Kamp v. Preis, 332 Ill. App. 3d 1115, 774 N.E.2d 865 (2002) (affirming $1,220,413 verdict (after $79,906 setoff) for adult female injured in deck collapse; severe fracture developed into bone infection, resulting in several surgeries and permanent risk of developing future infection)

• Miller v. Reynolds, 200 Ill. App. 3d 166, 558 N.E.2d 673 (1990) (reversing (based on worker’s compensation exclusivity provision) a verdict of $750,000 (reduced to $375,000 based on the plaintiff’s negligence), for broken leg, requiring surgery and resulting in long hospitalization, disfigurement, and partial disability of leg)

• Spencer v. Wandolowski, 264 Ill. App. 3d 611, 636 N.E.2d 854 (1994) (reversing based on excluded evidence of the male plaintiff’s negligence, a verdict of $609,111, including $370,000 in damages for disability and disfigurement; $200,000 for pain and suffering; $23,278 for medical expenses; and $15,833 for lost earnings (reduced by 50% for the plaintiff’s negligence), for left ankle fractures resulting in surgeries, skin grafts, permanent scarring, permanent impairment to ability to […]