56
356 FEDERAL SUPPLEMENT, 3d SERIES
Ph.D. from Northwestern University.
Koch Report at 12. Mr. Koch accounted
for Otto’s life expectancy and work life
expectancy, as well as Otto’s ‘‘exceptional[ ] talent[ ],’’ ‘‘academic success at UVA,’’
‘‘his attendance at the London School of
Economics,’’ and his ‘‘signal selection’’ as a
‘‘highly compensated summer intern’’ at
Millstein, a New York City investment
firm. Id. at 2–3. Mr. Koch then ran three
models. Id. at 3. The first assumed Otto
would reject the ‘‘possibility of Wall
Street’’ and instead earn the income of a
‘‘typical University of Virginia graduate,’’
and the second assumed Otto would work
at Millstein or a ‘‘comparable Wall Street
firm and do[ ] good work, but TTT not [be]
a star.’’ Id. The third model assumed Otto
would work at Millstein or a ‘‘comparable
Wall Street firm,’’ and ‘‘advance[ ] to [the]
position of Director after twenty years.’’
Id. Relying on his own ‘‘education, training
and experience, and accounting for the
realities of the marketplace,’’ Mr. Koch
concluded, after reviewing Otto’s case, that
the third model provided the ‘‘most credible’’ estimate of ‘‘losses suffered by
[Otto’s] estate,’’ at $ 6,038,308. Id. at 4.
Despite the obvious assumptions underlying this model, Otto excelled at all that he
set out to do in his young life, and his
‘‘driven’’ nature, H’rg Tr. (Rough) at 58 (C.
W.), makes highly plausible that this success would have continued. Accordingly,
Otto’s estate is awarded $ 6,038,308 for his
estimated economic losses as a result of
North Korea’s heinous treatment of him.
The plaintiffs also seek to recover Otto’s
medical expenses, Compl. at 21, and have
submitted satisfactory evidence of those
expenses, reflected in itemized medical
bills totaling $ 96,375.80, see Hatch Medical Expenses Decl. ¶ 6; see also id., Ex. A
(UC Health Itemization of Otto’s Hospital
Services); id., Ex. B (UC Health Itemization for Physician Providers); id., Ex. C
(UC Health Email Summary of Ex. B). See
Levin v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 529
F.Supp.2d 1, 20 (D.D.C. 2007) (‘‘[P]laintiffs,
through their own testimony, have reasonably proven the costs incurred as a result
of past medical expenses.’’); Campuzano v.
Islamic Republic of Iran, 281 F.Supp.2d
258, 275 (D.D.C. 2003) (‘‘[Plaintiff] has also
requested damages for his past medical
expenses and has ‘reasonably proven’
these expenses through the testimony of
his mother.’’).
[27] Although plaintiffs’ counsel represented at the evidentiary hearing that insurance ‘‘covered part of’’ these expenses,
H’rg Tr. (Rough) at 134, Otto’s medical
expenses are still recoverable in full. ‘‘[A]
district court may rely on well-established
statements of common law, found in state
reporters, the Restatement of Torts, and
other respected treatises, in determining
damages under § 1605A(c).’’ Fraenkel, 892
F.3d at 353. The Restatement (Second) of
Torts provides that ‘‘[p]ayments made or
benefits conferred by’’ collateral sources
‘‘do not have the effect of reducing the
recovery against the defendant.’’ RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS § 920A cmt. b
(1979). Therefore, Otto’s estate is awarded
$ 96,375.80 for Otto’s medical expenses.
3.
Pain and Suffering (Otto’s Estate)
[28, 29] ‘‘[W]hen assessing damages for
surviving victims of terrorist hostilities,’’
the ‘‘baseline assumption’’ is that ‘‘ ‘persons suffering injuries in terrorist attacks
are entitled to $ 5 million in damages.’ ’’
Kaplan v. Hezbollah, 213 F.Supp.3d 27, 35
(D.D.C. 2016) (quoting Davis v. Islamic
Republic of Iran, 882 F.Supp.2d 7, 12
(D.D.C. 2012) ). This baseline may be moderated either upward or downward. An
upward departure would be warranted ‘‘in
the presence of ‘severe instances of physical and psychological pain, such as where
victims suffered relatively more numerous