## Facts

- Eric Rohring, an ironworker employed by Falls Steel Erectors, Inc., worked on a construction project for the City of Niagara Falls.
- Rohring fell about twenty feet onto concrete when his safety belt broke, causing serious foot injuries.
- Rohring sued the City; the City impleaded Falls Steel as a third-party defendant.
- The trial court granted Rohring summary judgment on liability against the City (March 1989).
- A damages-only jury trial resulted in a $2,501,311 award for past and future damages (February 1991).
- The trial court structured the judgment under CPLR Article 50-B, which requires lump-sum payment of past damages and structured payment of future damages through an annuity for amounts above the statutory lump-sum portion.
- In structuring, the trial court (1) deducted the present value of attorney’s fees from the undiscounted future-damages award and (2) awarded prejudgment interest on future damages from the date liability was fixed under CPLR 5002.
- The Appellate Division modified the attorney-fee calculation (requiring deduction from the annuity’s present value) and affirmed prejudgment interest on future damages; both sides appealed.

## Issues

1. Under CPLR 5041(c) and (e), whether attorney’s fees attributable to future damages must be calculated and deducted using the undiscounted jury future-damages figure or the present value of the annuity that funds the structured payments.
2. Under CPLR 5002, whether prejudgment interest runs on future damages from the date liability is determined to entry of final judgment, despite future damages being paid periodically under Article 50-B.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals affirmed the Appellate Division.
- Attorney’s fees on future damages must be computed based on the present value of the annuity contract and deducted from that present-value amount, not from the undiscounted future-damages verdict.
- Prejudgment interest under CPLR 5002 applies to the entire award, including future damages, from the date liability is determined to entry of final judgment.

## Legal Principles

- Under CPLR 5041(c) and (e), the statutory base for attorney’s fees on structured future damages is the present value of the annuity contract required to fund remaining future damages.
- Article 50-B’s structuring mechanism does not authorize calculating attorney’s fees as though the defendant funded the undiscounted future-damages total rather than the annuity’s present value.
- CPLR 5002 awards prejudgment interest on damages from the date of the liability determination (verdict, report, or decision) to entry of final judgment, and this includes future-damage components later paid through periodic installments.
- Article 50-B and CPLR 5002 operate together: Article 50-B governs form and timing of future-damage payments, while CPLR 5002 governs interest for the post-liability, pre-judgment period on the entire recovery.

## Conclusion

The court required attorney’s fees on structured future damages to be tied to the present value of the annuity that funds those damages and held that prejudgment interest runs on future damages from the date liability is fixed until final judgment, even when those damages will be paid periodically under Article 50-B.


Rohring v. City of Niagara Falls, 84 N.Y.2d 60 (N.Y. 1994)