Damages
Is the amount of money which a plaintiff (the person suing) may be awarded in a lawsuit. There are many types of damages.
Special damages are those which actually were caused by the injury and include medical and hospital bills, ambulance charges, loss of wages, property repair or replacement costs or loss of money due on a contract.
The second basic area of damages are general damages, which are presumed to be a result of the other party's actions, but are subjective both in nature and determination of value of damages.
These include pain and suffering, future problems and crippling effect of an injury, loss of ability to perform various acts, shortening of life span, mental anguish, loss of companionship, loss of reputation (in a libel suit, for example), humiliation from scars, loss of anticipated business and other harm.
The third major form of damage is exemplary (or punitive) damages, which combines punishment and the setting of public example. Exemplary damages may be awarded when the defendant acted in a malicious, violent, oppressive, fraudulent, wanton or grossly reckless way in causing the special and general damages to the plaintiff. On occasion punitive damages can be greater than the actual damages, as, for example, in a sexual harassment case or fraudulent schemes. Although often asked for, they are seldom awarded. Nominal damages are those given when the actual harm is minor and an award is warranted under the circumstances
Damages are divided into a number of categories upon which the recovery may be based, such as:
(1) Compensatory Damages for the purpose of making a person "whole again" (put back in the position which existed before the loss or harm ). Compensatory damages is further broken into two main categories
(1.1) General Damages which necessarily result from the act or omission - the amount needed to restore the fair market value of the property to its owner (the injured party); and
(1.2) Special Damages which do not arise as a result of the wrongful act or omission itself but arise due to the circumstances after the loss or harm has occurred. Special damages include out-of-pocket items that can be documented such as the need to rent replace property (such as a car rental) or the cost of services (such as the cost to have property valued or appraised).
(2) Consequential Damages which flow from the loss or harm - consequential damages are of the same nature as special damages.
(3) Future Damages that are certain to occur in the future as a result of the loss or harm, are recoverable so long as there is a satisfactory basis for which the future, anticipated losses or harms can be determined. Without a satisfactory basis, future damages are speculative and are not subject to recovery.
(4) Incidental Damages include the reasonable charges, expenses, or other costs which flow from the loss or harm - such as delivery expenses and the cost of photocopies.
(5) Punitive Damages can be assessed against the party at fault to punish the wrong-doer for his/her willful, malicious, or oppressive behavior and to deter others from acting in a similar manner.