Legal Definitions - action per quod servitium amisit

The Latin phrase action per quod servitium amisit translates to "an action by which he lost the service." Historically, this legal action allowed a master to sue a third party who injured their servant, resulting in the master losing the benefit of the servant's labor or services.

While the direct master-servant relationship envisioned by this action is largely obsolete in modern law, the underlying principle—recovering damages for the loss of another person's services due to a third party's wrongful act—has evolved. Today, this concept is most commonly seen in claims for "loss of consortium," where a spouse or, in some cases, a parent or child, can seek compensation for the loss of companionship, affection, assistance, and other services from a family member who has been injured or killed by another's negligence.

Here are some examples illustrating this legal concept:

• Historical Context: Imagine a farmer in the 18th century whose hired hand, essential for harvesting crops, is severely injured by a neighbor's runaway livestock. The farmer could initiate an action per quod servitium amisit against the neighbor. The farmer would seek compensation for the financial losses incurred because the injured hired hand could not perform their duties, directly impacting the farm's productivity and the farmer's income.

  This illustrates the term because the farmer (master) lost the valuable labor and service of their hired hand (servant) due to the neighbor's negligence, entitling the farmer to seek recovery for that lost service.

• Modern Application (Loss of Spousal Consortium): A software engineer is involved in a serious car accident caused by a distracted driver, resulting in permanent physical disabilities that prevent them from performing household chores, participating in family activities, or engaging in intimate relations with their spouse. The uninjured spouse could file a claim for loss of consortium, which is a modern form of action per quod servitium amisit. They would seek damages for the loss of their partner's companionship, affection, and the practical services (like childcare, home maintenance) that their partner can no longer provide.

  This example demonstrates the term's evolution, where the spouse is seeking compensation for the loss of the injured partner's "services" in a broader sense, encompassing emotional support, companionship, and practical contributions to the household, all lost due to a third party's negligence.

• Modern Application (Loss of Parental Services): A child suffers a catastrophic injury at a poorly maintained public park playground, leaving them with severe, lifelong disabilities. The child's parents might include a claim for loss of the child's future services and companionship in their lawsuit against the park's management. This claim would account for the profound impact on family life, including the loss of the child's ability to contribute to the household in the future, as well as the emotional and relational losses.

  Here, the parents are seeking compensation for the loss of their child's future contributions and companionship, which are considered "services" in the context of family relationships, directly resulting from the park's alleged negligence.