How Do Punitive Damages Operate In A Case Of Personal Injury?
You could have the legal right to sue and seek compensation if you were hurt in an accident that was someone else’s responsibility. However, each situation is unique. Sometimes the defendant has behaved in such a reprehensible manner that the court feels it is appropriate to award punitive damages.
Punitive damages increase the overall damages that you, the plaintiff, may be able to get through the legal process. A punitive damages award can occasionally result in a multimillion dollar recovery in major accident claims.
Let’s examine the fundamentals of how punitive damages operate.
How Do Punitive Damages Work?
Damages awarded in a personal injury case are often compensatory in nature. They are intended to “compensate” the wounded plaintiff for their losses, or to put them in a position (financially) that is reasonably close to where they would have been had they not been engaged in the event.
Medical costs, pain and suffering, lost wages, and other losses are all covered under compensatory damages.
Punitive damages varied significantly in their nature. Punitive damages aren’t supposed to be compensation; rather, they’re meant to “punish” the defendant for engaging in seriously harmful activity and to deter others in society from doing the same.
The court is punishing the defendant and deterring others in society from doing the same by awarding additional damages in the form of punitive damages.
Damages for Punishment Calculation
The base compensatory damages offered in the dispute are multiplied to determine punitive damages. The multiplier has a maximum of seven times the amount of compensatory damages.
How does that function?
Let’s say that a slip-and-fall mishap results in your injuries. Your overall losses amount to almost $100,000. The business owner intentionally prevented their employees from cleaning up a spill on the floor of their retail store because they wanted a customer to trip over it because they felt it would be “funny,” your attorney learns after additional inquiry.
The court decides to grant punitive damages because it believes this action to be intentional. The court determines that $800,000 should be awarded in punitive damages (seven times the compensatory damages amount). Thus, you would receive a total recovery of $900,000.
Possibility of Punitive Damages
The vast majority of personal injury lawsuits do not allow for punitive damages. However, it’s crucial that you and your lawyer fight aggressively for a punitive damages award where they may be eligible.
What conditions permit the use of punitive damages?
In the majority of states, you, the plaintiff, must be able to prove that the defendant acted deliberately, knowingly, and/or egregiously in order to receive punitive damages. Punitive damages cannot be awarded for simple negligence. Punitive damages must be available in the case and must be significantly more severe due to the defendant’s actions.
Remember that punitive damages are given in an effort to deter such conduct in society. Therefore, the activity must be particularly harmful to justify an effort to deter it through punitive damages.
Illegal street racing that caused an accident would very certainly be eligible for punitive damages in the context of an automobile accident, but simple speeding would not (unless the defendant was speeding well over the speed limit, and speeding to such an extent that they displayed a reckless disregard for human life).
Punitive damages may also apply to drunk driving, but only if there was extremely severe behaviour. Therefore, it would probably be sufficient to allow for punitive damages if, for instance, the defendant was warned to cease drinking because they would endanger others and they laughed it off and claimed they “don’t care.”
It’s important to remember that, even when they are available, punitive damages are not mandated by the law. The decision to award punitive damages is up to the court. It is up to your attorney to craft a strong enough defence to “win” the court.
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