Dr. Tooth is a 40-year old dentist in Small Town, USA. He graduated from dental school seven years ago and built a thriving practice. In 2001, however, Dr. Tooth had an ugly billing disagreement with a patient. The patient, a wealthy and well-known member of the community, in retribution, maliciously spread a rumor that Dr. Tooth was a carrier of a serious infectious disease. This rumor destroyed Dr. Tooth's patient base, as most of his patients quickly switched dentists.
As a result of the stress of losing his business, the cruel gossip that resulted from the rumor, and the financial strain caused by this situation, Dr. Tooth began to suffer from severe migraine headaches, loss of appetite, and significant facial twitches. Dr. Tooth sued the patient for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He won a jury verdict and in 2003 he recovered $3,600,000 in damages from the patient.
•$1,000,000 lost wages. This was calculated on the basis that, in addition to the one year of wages lost since the date of the defamation, he has lost the ability to earn future wages in Small Town.
•$50,000 reimbursement for medical expenses incurred in seeing a neurologist, internist, and psychologist.
•$20,000 for future anticipated medical expenses.
•$30,000 reimbursement for attorney's fees that had already been paid.
•$2,000,000 in punitive damages. The jury determined that the action of the patient was so malicious and heinous that he should be monetarily punished for his actions.
•$300,000 for pain and suffering.
•$200,000 to compensate Dr. Tooth for the emotional distress he suffered.
Through your interview with the client, you discover that, out of the award, $350,000 was paid directly to his attorney.
2.Prepare a 2- to 3-page memo using the IRAC (Issue, Ruling, Analysis, and Conclusion) tax memo format.