Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Illinois

Liability for Transmitting Herpes

I see another attorney has addressed your question. He gave you solid advice. Please allow me to add:

You ask: �what kind of compensation can I get from that?� If you can plead, sustain, and prove liability, causation, and damages in your case, you would be entitled to compensation for losses arising as a direct and proximate result of the your ex-wife�s failure to disclose she had herpes and physically transmitting it to you. This would include various sums for medical and hospital expenses for treatment of the disease, various sums for psychological expenses and other forms of emotional treatment, and an unfixed amount for intangible damage such as emotional pain and suffering.

If your damages are small, you can sue in small claims court. If you know what you are doing, and the other side doesn�t hire a lawyer, you have a fair-but-not-good chance of recovery. If you have �smoking gun� type evidence to prove who-gave-herpes-to-whom (e.g. a dated letter from your ex-wife confessing she knew she had herpes, didn�t tell you, and thereafter was intimate with you) your chances of recovery improve.

Over $5,000 in damages and you�ll be in other courts where the rules of procedure and evidence are unforgiving, unyielding, and not-at-all-obvious. To make your case your will very likely need the services of a lawyer. I cannot foresee a lawyer taking your case on a contingency (% of recovery) unless you had the �smoking gun� mentioned above; real, substantial, and provable damages; and a defendant with a sufficient net worth (or insurance policy) to make damages recoverable.

You can hire a lawyer by the hour to handle your case. Besides paying for him or her (and no, she is not liable to you for your attorneys� fees if she loses), you�ll need to pay court costs, expenses of litigation, and the fees of:

an expert to swear your ex-wife gave you herpes and not the other way around (unless you have the �smoking gun�);

an expert to testify that the contact between you and your ex caused you to get herpes;

an expert to testify that your psychological treatments were the natural and probable consequence of you having learned you had herpes (and that the bills for such treatment are reasonable) [NOTE: if you want damages for future therapy, your expert may or may not be willing, well-qualified, or well-prepared to predict how you will be affected in the future, what your treatment will be, and what it will cost; and if they are not so qualified, you�ll need to find another expert for that; and

an expert to testify that your medical treatments were the consequence of getting herpes (and that the bills for such treatment are reasonable) [NOTE:as in the prior subparagraph, if you want damages for future medical treatment, you�ll need an expert to testify about it.

I hope this information is helpful.

Re: Herpes

A number of states have recognized a cause of action (i.e., a tort) for the wrongful transmission of a sexually transmitted disease, and I suspect that Illinois would too. You would need proof (i) that your ex-wife has herpes; and (ii) that you got it from her and from no one else. She also would have had to know or should have known that she was a carrier.

Assuming you could prove these facts (to the satisfaction of a jury), I would think your damage award would be significant. If she intentionally gave you herpes, you would likely be entitled to a punitive award.

From a practical perspective, the amount you could collect would be dependant upon your wife's assets and if she had any insurance coverage that could come into play.

-- Kenneth J. Ashman; www.AshmanLawOffices.com

This communication is intended for general informational purposes only and is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship, which, under the policies of Ashman Law Offices, LLC, can only be created by the execution of a formal retention agreement.