This is Part Five in a series of blog articles on California Personal Injury (PI) law.
Whenever
someone has been injured as a result of a negligent, reckless, or
intentional act by another individual or entity, the victim is allowed
under California law to seek monetary compensation for their injuries.
The legal name for this type of compensation is "damages."
There
are different types of damages that a person may recover, based upon
the circumstances surrounding their injury. They are broken down into
the following three categories:
- General Damages (aka non-economic damages): these are damages that are not quantifiable such as pain & suffering, emotional trauma, and loss of consortium (i.e. loss of companionship);
- Special Damages (aka economic damages): these are damages that can be tied to a certain dollar amount such as medical expenses, lost wages, future medical care, future wages, and damaged property;
- Punitive Damages (aka exemplary damages): these are damages that are recoverable when the victim can establish that their injury was caused by the intentional, malicious, or fraudulent act of the individual or entity they are suing. These types of monetary awards are designed to punish and/or deter the conduct that caused the injury in the first place, and are in addition to the monetary compensation a victim receives from other types of damages (general & special).
Proving
economic damages in Court is much more straightforward since these
types of losses can be quantified through medical invoices, paycheck
stubs, and repair bills. Non-economic losses are more complicated, and
may involve medical experts who specialize in assessing things such as
emotional anguish, grief, humiliation, and shock, to name a few. There
is no particular formula used in California to determine damages based
upon human pain & suffering. However, courts have allowed a
multiple of the economic damages to be used in determining the amount of
non-economic damages to be awarded. For example, if a
plaintiff's medical bills due to an injury he suffered equals $125,000,
then a reasonable multiple of say three (3) times would be used to determine
that the pain & suffering component would be worth $375,000.
Punitive Damages
California
Civil Code Section 3294(a) states as follows: "In an action for the
breach of an
obligation not arising from contract, where it is proven by clear and
convincing evidence that the defendant has been guilty of oppression,
fraud, or malice, the plaintiff, in addition to the actual damages, may
recover damages for the sake of example and by way of punishing the
defendant." This is the code section that authorizes a victim to pursue
punitive damages that do not arise out of a breach of contract - in
other words in a Personal Injury or Wrongful Death case, as an
example.
Punitive
damages do not rely strictly upon a direct loss by the victim, but are
instead based upon how egregious or reprehensible the defendant's
conduct was that led to the injury, and the defendant's ability to pay
the punitive damage award based upon their financial condition. The
exception would be medical malpractice cases in California that cap or
limit punitive damage awards to a maximum amount of $250,000. For example,
a victim in a Toxic Tort case involving the dumping of chemicals by a
manufacturer into a body of water which is the source for a local
groundwater supply would be able to recover punitive damages if they
prove that the manufacturer knew they were dumping dangerous chemicals,
they failed to warn the residents of the local community about the
dangers, they continued to dump the chemicals over a period of time, and
the dangerous chemicals ultimately caused harm to the victim.
Juries
typically decide the amount of punitive damages - there is a set of
jury instructions which jurors should follow to determine the actual
dollar amount of the punitive damage award. Those jury instructions
known as the Book of Approved Jury Instructions (BAJI) outlines the
following elements that a jury should consider: i) the reprehensibility
of the conduct of the defendant, ii) the amount of punitive damages
which will have a deterrent effect on the defendant in light of the
defendant's financial condition, and iii) the punitive damages must
bear a reasonable relation to the injury, harm, or damage, actually
suffered by the plaintiff.
Other Damage Award Considerations
Damage
awards can be agreed upon prior to a trial proceeding by the parties to
a lawsuit, or they can be awarded by a judge or jury after a trial has
taken place. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 998(b) states as follows:
"Not
less than 10 days prior to commencement
of trial or arbitration (as provided in Section 1281 or 1295) of a
dispute to be resolved by arbitration, any party may serve an offer in
writing upon any other party to the action to
allow judgment to be taken or an award to be entered in accordance with
the terms and conditions stated at that time." This is known as a 998
Offer to Compromise, and can be served by either party (plaintiff or
defendant) on the other litigant. If the offer is rejected, and the rejecting party does not achieve a more favorable judgment or award at trial, then that party shall not recover their post-offer litigation costs, and shall pay the other party's litigation costs from the time of the offer.
The
amount of fault assigned to each party - also referred to as
Comparative Negligence - will impact the amount of the damages. If a
victim is deemed to be 25% at fault, and the damage award is $1,000,000,
then the victim would only be entitled to recover $750,000 ($1,000,000 -
$250,000).
Since
everyone's case is unique to that individual and the specific
circumstances, you should consult with a competent PI attorney to determine
your best course of action. Our office has expertise in this area of
the law, and we encourage you to reach out for a free consultation.
Attorney Felicia Yates has been practicing law for over 35 years in
California and may be contacted at (702) 817-4661, via e-mail at
attorneyfeliciayates@gmail.com, or via website at https://www.attyfeliciayates.com.
Comments
Post a Comment