1Where a plaintiff has a pre-existing mood disorder and the accident is one stressor among many, the court must assess whether the accident's causal contribution to the plaintiff's current mental condition has been superseded by subsequent causally independent stressors; if so, the accident does not sound in damages for the plaintiff's present psychiatric condition.
2A plaintiff claiming loss of earning capacity must establish not only that capacity was diminished by the negligence-caused injury but also that the diminution was or may be productive of financial loss; historical earnings that provide no guidance as to lost opportunity, combined with the absence of any concrete employment offer, may defeat claims for both past and future economic loss beyond a modest global assessment.
3Where multiple medical experts examine a plaintiff at different times, the court may prefer the opinion of the expert who conducted the most recent and most contemporaneous examination, particularly where that expert had the advantage of examining the plaintiff on two occasions over a substantial period.
