Monday, January 30, 2023

Trial Court Refuses to Award Delay Damages Where Repeated Delays Were Caused by Plaintiff


In the case of Tyler v. Hoover, June Term, 2019, No. 06965 (C.P. Phila. Co. Aug. 19, 2022 Hill, J.), the court denied a Plaintiff’s Motion for Delay Damages following a trial in a rear-end accident case and wrote this Rule 1925 Opinion for appellate purposes.

The court, reviewing Rule 238, found that the Plaintiff’s request for delay damages was unwarranted because the Plaintiff’s noncompliance with the discovery rules and Orders of Court had led to certain delays in the matter.  According to the Opinion, the Defendant had to file numerous motions to compel and motions for sanctions relative to written discovery and depositions in order to push the case forward.

The court also emphasized that, even if the delay of the trial had been solely attributable to Defendants, the Plaintiffs in this matter had not provided any other basis to support their formulation of the alleged delay damages. 

As such, because the Plaintiff’s estimation of delay damages was not properly calculated to reflect the lengthy pre-trial history of the case, the court found that it would be “patently unjust” and an abuse of discretion to award delay damages in this matter.

Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK.


Source: “Digest of Recent Opinions.” Pennsylvania Law Weekly (Dec. 6, 2022).

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