In the calculus of personal injury lawsuits, a dead plaintiff is rarely worth as much as a living but severely maimed plaintiff. Severe injuries, like those suffered by Carney, usually mean a lifetime as a cripple, often with great pain, big medical bills, and loss of income, items a jury can consider in rendering its award. By this same cold calculus, a dead child is always worth less than a dead adult, especially if that adult had been the family breadwinner or mother to several children.

Jonathan Harr, A Civil Action, loc. 1122