PJC General Negligence 2022

T HEFT L IABILITY

PJC 7.6

PJC 7.6 Sample Instructions—Actual Damages for Theft Explanatory note: Damages instructions in Texas Theft Liability Act actions are often necessarily fact-specific. Unlike most other form instructions in this volume, therefore, the following sample instructions are illustrative only, using a hypothetical situation to give a few examples of how instructions may be worded to submit various legal measures of damages for use in connection with the theft damages question, PJC 7.5. Sample A—Market value of the appropriated property “Market value” means the amount that would be paid in cash by a willing buyer who desires to buy, but is not required to buy, to a willing seller who “Market value” means the amount that would be paid in cash by a willing buyer who desires to buy, but is not required to buy, to a willing seller who desires to sell, but is under no necessity of selling. Sample C—Lost income from appropriated business contacts and files that was a natural, probable, and foreseeable consequence of Don Davis ’s theft of the property The income that Paul Payne would have otherwise realized by providing services to his clients had Don Davis not unlawfully appropriated Paul Payne ’s customer lists and files. Sample D—Lost rental value of the appropriated property that was a natural, probable, and foreseeable consequence of Don Davis ’s theft of the property The income that Paul Payne would have otherwise realized from renting the property to others, the loss of which was a natural, probable, and foreseeable consequence of Don Davis ’s theft of the property. COMMENT When to use. See explanatory note above. Because damages instructions in Texas Theft Liability Act suits are necessarily fact-specific, no true “pattern” instructions are given—only samples of some measures of general damages available in such actions. This list is not exhaustive. The samples are illustrative only, adapted to a hypothetical fact situation, and must be rewritten to fit the particular damages raised by the plead ings and proof and recoverable under a legally accepted theory. The instructions should be drafted in an attempt to make the plaintiff factually whole but not to put the desires to sell, but is under no necessity of selling. Sample B—Market value of the appropriated services

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