Artificial legal standards in mental/emotional injury litigation

The courts historically have viewed mental and emotional injuries with suspicion. In attempting to ensure the genuineness of those claims that are brought to trial, most courts require that plaintiffs meet standards that go beyond those that are imposed for claims of physical injury, even though the value and validity of these additional standards have not been empirically assessed. Although the development of legal standards in the absence of empirical data is troubling, of particular concern is the fact that some of the imposed standards are artificial in that they refer to factors not directly related to the injury claimed. This study explores the impact of these standards on the litigation of claims for emotional injuries. The paper discusses the effects that artificial standards had upon claims pursued at the trial court level. According to these data, artificial standards are not warranted.