Lewis v. Ukran
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The court held that, in a contested case, a party (typically a defendant) seeking to reduce an award of future damages to present value bears the burden of proving an appropriate method of doing so, including an appropriate discount rate. A party (typically a plaintiff) who seeks an upward adjustment of a future damages award to account for inflation bears the burden of proving an appropriate method of doing so, including an appropriate inflation rate.
The court held that this aligns the burdens of proof with the parties' respective economic interest and a trier of fact should not reduce damages to present value, or adjust for inflation, absent such evidence or a stipulation of the parties. In this case, substantial evidence supported the judgment, and the trial court did not err by declining to reduce future damages to present cash value and did not abuse its discretion in granting plaintiff's motion for prejudgment interest.
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