Skip to main content
DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW — NOT FINAL

Scott v. Garfield, 454 Mass. 790 (2009)

Citation
Scott v. Garfield, 454 Mass. 790 (2009)
Parent Document
Scott v. Garfield, 454 Mass. 790 (2009)
Jurisdiction
Massachusetts (state)
Effective Date
2009-09-15

Other Sections in This Document (57)

Full Text

782 chars
The collateral source rule has a substantive component and an evidentiary component. See Leitinger v. DBart, Inc., 302 Wis. 2d 110, 149-150 (2007) (“collateral source rule began as a substantive rule of damages,” but has since “taken on an evi-dentiary character”). The substantive component bars the reduction of the plaintiff’s compensatory award by the amount of the benefits the plaintiff receives from third parties, “collateral sources” (typically insurance companies), as a consequence of his injuries. See Corsetti v. Stone Co., 396 Mass. 1, 16-17 (1985). The evidentiary component ordinarily bars admission of evidence of the existence of the collateral source or the receipt of such benefits as irrelevant to the issue of damages, and liable to be misused by the jury. Id.