Home > Law Journals > JDR > Vol. 2004 > Iss. 1 (2004)
Abstract
"[I]t is difficult ... to imagine an event or transaction that does not involve insurance in some way."' So it is with the most salient event in the lives of Tony and Donna Sabia, whose son Tony John Sabia, or "Little Tony," was born with profound disabilities. In the final analysis, the ability of Tony and Donna to pay for the future medical care and living expenses needed by their son depends on whether they can reach the liability insurance coverage possessed by the health care providers who attended Donna and Little Tony at the time of his birth. It is also fair to assert that but for the lack of insurance, specifically, the Sabias' lack of health insurance, the events described in Barry Werth's Damages2 might never have happened. But once the Sabias' litigation odyssey is underway, insurance plays a prominent role at every major juncture. As aptly stated by Professor Mark Rahdert, "insurance usually determines whether tort cases are brought, whom plaintiffs sue, how much they claim, who provides the defense, how the case gets litigated, the dynamics of settlement, and how much plaintiffs ultimately recover."3 These truisms are powerfully presented in Damages. In this essay, we review how insurance shaped and affected the stories of Tony, Donna, and Little Tony Sabia.
Recommended Citation
Douglas R. Richmond and Robert H. Jerry II,
Insurance Aspects of Damages, The,
2004 J. Disp. Resol.
(2004)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/jdr/vol2004/iss1/10