Ford Wins Argument on Trial Award Interest Rates in Colorado

Ford Motor Co. must pay a statutory interest rate to an injured man for a period of time up to the first judgment against it, and then a lower interest rate from that date up to the time it pays him, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

The state law mandating a 9% prejudgment interest rate in tort suits is ambiguous, Justice Carlos A. Samour Jr. said for the 4–2 majority. And the only way to reconcile the law’s provisions is to apply a market rate postjudgment interest rate to the time after the first judgment, Samour said.

Justice Monica …