## Facts

- David E. Stringham died after his vehicle struck the rear of a UPS semitractor–trailer on December 27, 1985, at about 10:20 p.m.
- The UPS truck was temporarily stopped in the curb lane of a four-lane road with emergency flashers on; the UPS driver said he stopped briefly to close an open passenger door, while a witness estimated the truck had been stopped up to 20 minutes.
- Evidence showed Stringham’s blood-alcohol concentration was 0.21.
- Stringham was divorced from Valerie Stringham and was survived by two children, including Tina, who had Down’s Syndrome.
- In a wrongful-death action, plaintiff introduced medical testimony describing Tina’s Down’s Syndrome, prognosis, and anticipated need for ongoing guidance and care.
- Plaintiff’s economist testified to the present cash value of decedent’s future earnings using actuarial work-life estimates, an age-earnings profile, and a net discount approach that offset a 7.3% market rate by a 6% earnings-growth factor.
- The jury awarded $505,262.16; the trial court reduced the award by 50% for decedent’s contributory negligence and entered judgment for $252,631.08.
- UPS appealed, challenging evidentiary rulings affecting damages and expert testimony.

## Issues

1. Whether medical testimony about a surviving child’s Down’s Syndrome, prognosis, and future needs was admissible to prove pecuniary loss in a wrongful-death action.
2. Whether an economist may account for inflation/earnings growth in calculating present cash value of lost future earnings using a net discount rate.
3. Whether the trial court properly restricted UPS’s economist to opinions disclosed in discovery under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 220.
4. Whether the trial court properly excluded a toxicologist’s opinion that decedent’s intoxication was the proximate cause of the collision.

## Decision

- The appellate court affirmed the judgment.
- The court held that testimony regarding Tina’s Down’s Syndrome and expected needs was relevant to the children’s pecuniary loss, including loss of parental guidance, attention, and instruction.
- The court upheld the plaintiff economist’s inflation-aware present-value method as an acceptable approach to determining present cash value.
- The court found no abuse of discretion in limiting UPS’s economist to disclosed opinions under Rule 220.
- The court upheld exclusion of the toxicologist’s proximate-cause opinion because it would not assist the jury on causation given the nontechnical nature of the inference and the evidence already presented.

## Legal Principles

- In Illinois wrongful-death cases, “pecuniary injuries” may include loss of parental guidance, attention, and instruction, not only direct financial support.
- Medical evidence about a beneficiary’s disability may be admissible when it bears on the extent of pecuniary loss by showing the beneficiary’s likely dependence on parental guidance and care.
- Present-value calculations of lost earnings may use methods that incorporate expected earnings growth and discounting, including approaches that offset a market discount rate by a growth factor to reach a net discount rate.
- Under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 220, trial courts may limit expert testimony to opinions and bases disclosed in discovery to prevent unfair surprise; such limits are reviewed for abuse of discretion.
- Expert opinions on proximate cause may be excluded when the conclusion is within ordinary juror experience and the testimony would primarily instruct the jury how to decide the ultimate issue rather than provide technical assistance.

## Conclusion

The appellate court affirmed a reduced wrongful-death judgment, holding that limited medical testimony about a disabled child’s condition was admissible to prove pecuniary loss, approving an inflation-sensitive present-value earnings methodology, and upholding discretionary limits on undisclosed expert opinions and on expert causation testimony where the jury could draw its own conclusions.


Stringham v. United Parcel Serv., Inc., 181 Ill. App. 3d 312, 536 N.E.2d 1292 (Ill. App. Ct. 1989)