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Hedonic Damages

By Chad L. Staller

Like a zombie, expert testimony on the “value of life” (hedonic damages) refuses to die. Despite repeated stakes through the heart of hedonic damages testimony ' studies showing that the theory is unreliable, new evidence showing that the basis for such testimony in injury cases is nonexistent, and numerous successful motions-in-limine barring such testimony ' the economic hedonists are still with us. Amazingly, hedonic damages testimony is appearing in matters that at first, second or even third glance would seem totally inappropriate for testimony on life's value ' torts involving neither death, nor physical injury, nor even pain and suffering, but purely economic claims, such as lender-liability and employment matters.

Before outlining the inappropriate areas where hedonic damages testimony is now being applied, and before noting some new evidence that such testimony may be even more inappropriate than economists heretofore thought, some background may be helpful.

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