People who feel they have been injured through the fault of someone else often seek the advice of personal injury attorneys with a goal of getting compensated for their injuries. Personal injury compensation can take the form of compensatory damages, nominal damages or punitive damages. The term "damage" refers to monetary payments awarded by a judge or jury or given in settlement for personal injuries.
Compensatory Damages in a Personal Injury Claim
Compensatory damages are the most common form of monetary award in successful personal injury lawsuits. This is true because most personal injury lawsuits are based on negligence. As a general rule, plaintiffs in simple negligence cases may recover only compensatory damages. Compensatory damages are monetary payments intended to make the plaintiff "whole." That is, they are awarded to compensate the plaintiff for actual losses he or she has suffered or will incur in the future because of the defendant's conduct.
Compensatory damages cover both economic losses and non-economic losses. Economic losses include actual out-of-pocket expenses the plaintiff has paid or will pay in the future because of the defendant's wrongdoing. An example of an economic loss would be the costs associated with repairing one's damaged car following an automobile accident. Non-economic losses are commonly referred to as pain and suffering damages. They include compensation for such things as embarrassment, humiliation or grief.
Nominal Damages as Injury Compensation
Nominal damages are small token awards given when the judge or jury finds the defendant has technically committed a tort, but the plaintiff did not suffer any harm as a result. Usually, nominal damages consist, as the name suggests, of a mere nominal amount of money such as $1 or $10.
Nominal damages are awarded only in intentional tort and strict liability cases. They cannot be awarded in negligence cases because an element of every negligence claim is damage to the plaintiff. Personal injury attorneys seldom take on cases in which nominal damages are likely, unless the client pays by the hour. Plaintiffs in such cases are usually motivated to vindicate a perceived injustice rather than to seek compensation for injury.
Punitive Damages in Personal Injury Lawsuits
Punitive damages are awarded over and above compensatory damages and are designed to punish the wrongdoer and to deter similar conduct on the part of others. Punitive damages are awarded only when the defendant's behavior is willful, intentional, reckless, outrageous or malicious in some way. As a consequence, punitive damages are typically not available in simple negligence lawsuits such as cases involving ordinary auto accident injury.
A person who believes he or she is entitled to personal injury compensation should contact a local personal injury lawyer for advice and counsel. Most states impose time limits on bringing personal injury lawsuits, and waiting too long could impact one's ability to collect damages for personal injury.
Source: Statsky, William P. Torts Personal Injury Litigation (4th ed.). N.Y.: Delmar Learning, 2001.
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Disclaimer: This article is in no way intended as legal advice. For help with specific legal issues, one should contact a licensed attorney in one's own jurisdiction.
Jessie Vanwinkle - Jessie Vanwinkle is an attorney in practice since 1998. View her full profile for more information.
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