If you have ever been involved in a personal injury trial that resulted in a verdict containing a future damages award in excess of $250,000, then you are all too familiar with the complexities of CPLR Articles 50-A and 50-B. These statutes were enacted in 1985 and 1986 respectively, in the wake of the tort reform movement, and they radically changed the way that future damages verdicts are calculated and paid out to personal injury plaintiffs. Rather than being paid in one lump sum, the statutes mandate that future damages be paid in periodic payments.
It may sound simple enough, but in practice, it is difficult to describe these statutes as “user friendly,” and more than one commentator and a few appellate courts have questioned the continued need to preserve these statutory schemes. We take this opportunity to review the history of these statutes, including a discussion of their stated legislative purpose and practical shortcomings, in the hope that the Legislature might take up the challenge to revise, or perhaps do away with, these statutory provisions.
