Davenport v. Webb

Section 132 of our Decedent Estate Law provides that, “ When final judgment for the plaintiff is rendered ” in a wrongful death action, ‘ ‘ the clerk must add to the sum so awarded, interest thereupon from the decedent’s death, and include it in the judgment ”.

The issue presented on this appeal is whether that provision applies to an action brought in New York but based on a wrong committed elsewhere, in other words, whether the addition of prejudgment interest is to be governed by lexi fori or by lex loci delictus. The deaths in this case resulted from an automobile collision which occurred…