How are Compensatory and Punitive Damages Decided?

Posted in General FAQ'S on April 12, 2017

A personal injury lawsuit is a common choice for people who suffer injuries and other damages due to the negligent actions of others. In a typical personal injury lawsuit, the plaintiff can reasonably expect to win compensation for their medical expenses, pain and suffering, property damage, and lost income resulting from the incident in question. These are compensatory damages, and as the name implies, exist to compensate victims for the actions of others. However, in some lawsuits, a judge may decide that the defendant’s actions warrant additional forms of compensation.

Punitive Damages

Punitive damages exist to punish defendants for grossly negligent or willfully dangerous actions. Essentially, a judge will award punitive damages to discourage future instances of similar actions from both the defendant and the general public. Unlike compensatory damages which directly reimburse a plaintiff for his or her losses, a jury will determine the acceptable amount of punitive damages based on the defendant’s apparent conduct and the level of injury the plaintiff sustained.

A jury may also award punitive damages based on the defendant’s financial situation. Put simply, wealthy defendants have much more to fear when facing punitive damages, as the jury will consider a higher amount as more effective deterrence against future misbehavior.

It’s important to note, however, that some states like California impose limits on how much a plaintiff may receive in punitive damages. Additionally, a court may require that the punitive damages are proportionally acceptable compared to the compensatory damages awarded to the plaintiff.

Explaining Compensatory Damages

Compensatory damages are more straightforward than punitive damages, but it can still be difficult to accurately assess a justifiable amount of compensatory damages in a lawsuit. Generally, compensatory damages should equal the plaintiff’s suffered losses. Some losses, such as the cost of repairing or replacing damaged property, reimbursing medical expenses, and other hard figures, are easy to calculate. Other losses, such as pain and suffering, are more open to interpretation.

General compensatory damages usually repay the exact amount lost, and include things like:

• Medical expenses. An injured plaintiff can sue for compensation for all expenses incurred as a result of the defendant’s actions. Medical expenses typically include hospital bills, any costs for subsequent treatments or procedures, prescription costs, and any other expenses related to treating the plaintiff’s injuries or illness.
• Lost wages. Many injuries can prevent a plaintiff from resuming work for quite some time. While they may find some relief through an employer-provided short or long-term disability benefits package, a plaintiff can sue for the income he or she would have earned in the time spent home after the injury or illness manifested.
• Property damage. If a defendant’s actions damaged property, the plaintiff can sue for the cost of repairing or replacing the damaged items.
• Cost of living with permanent or long-term disability. An injured plaintiff may require a wheelchair or similar medical appliance after an injury. Some injured plaintiffs may require entirely new living arrangements, and they may sue defendants for the costs of securing these accommodations.

Some Compensation May Be Open to Interpretation

Special forms of compensation exist as well for things like pain and suffering, emotional distress, and permanent disfigurement. Plaintiffs in wrongful death cases may also sue for loss of consortium and funeral expenses for the deceased. It may sound difficult to assign appropriate monetary values to damages like these, and in most cases, expert witness testimony will sway the judge and jury in terms of how much to award the plaintiff.

The court considers the plaintiff’s age, lifestyle, earning capacity, the nature of his or her injuries, and the extent of those injuries’ effects when calculating compensatory damages. One of the best things injured individuals can do to secure proper compensation is to retain records of every expense incurred after an injury. The more documentation establishing your losses you can offer your attorney, the better chance he or she will have in securing an acceptable award for your damages.