"Why Is a Piece of Art worth More than the Value of a Personal Injury Case When One Has Suffered Catastrophic Injuries?" Ponders An Experienced Philadelphia Accident Lawyer
As an experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyer since 1979 who has also been studying the art markets and trends in the cost of paintings, I am somewhat astounded how even in this crippling economy art that originally sold for $10,000 in 1960 is now bringing price tags of over $100 million dollars at recent auctions. In every legal case where someone is catastrophically injured or killed, after a lawyer successfully proves liability in the case, monetary damages are typically rewarded to the plaintiff. Monetary damages are generally awarded to compensate the plaintiff for the loss of life’s pleasures including physical and emotional pain and suffering, loss of companionship, loss of consortium, disfigurement, loss of reputation, impairment of mental or physical capacities, frustration, humiliation, degradation and a non-inclusive list of other factors. Many times this is not easily quantifiable and depends on the individual circumstances. Of course, an economist or vocational expert can easily calculate the loss of earning and earning capacity. However, what is the lost value of one’s hopes and dreams. Should a small piece of art cost so much more, when both are intangibles?
I recently read an article in a magazine concerning artist Mark Rothko who committed suicide in 1970 leaving behind hundreds of unsold paintings that he didn’t want to part with because he considered them to be his children. He claimed that the paintings embodied his dreams. He became possessive of these dreams and didn’t like to send them to live off with just anybody. Rothko’s signed art was secondary to making it, and he had a love/hate relationship with success. When I contrasted this situation to the typical client we represent in personal injury cases, how many people also would like not to have to part with their life as it existed prior to a catastrophic injury and for families of the deceased an even more confounding and tragic situation.
More than ever insurance companies and corporate defendants seem to be attacking the pathways to the courts for injured plaintiffs. In effect, they state that there is no value to hope or loss of one’s dreams and it is interesting to note that many of these same corporate executives or giants do not have a second or third thought when spending $60 to $100 million dollars or more on a piece of art or a vacation home in the Hampton’s, Palm Beach or for their yachts. What I find astounding is that these same captains of industry who purchase art at these amounts often are the same ones running major corporations or insurance companies that refuse to pay the proper value of lost dreams or lost hopes to persons injured by a knowingly defective product or clearly foreseeable accident. This makes us give the question: Is the value of a Rothko or Andy Warhol silk screen that sold for $71 million dollars worth more than the lost hopes or dreams of a working man who was rendered a paraplegic or those of a medical malpractice victim who cannot provide for his family or live the balance of his life with his wife and children who view him as a different from the whole person he was prior to the accident?
Unfortunately, it is not until one is placed in a situation where we face the value of lost hopes or dreams or family after we have sustained a serious or catastrophic injury or death that we personally understand all of the ramifications. At the experienced Philadelphia catastrophic personal injury law firm of Reiff & Bily, we understand the lost intangible value of dreams and we think that your loss of dreams is more important than the intangible value of a piece of art and we will commit ourselves 110% to help you recover compensatory damages to keep your hopes and dreams alive. Please contact us online at www.reiffandbily.com or at 1-800-421-9595.
