Nominal Damages in Personal Injury Cases
If you are injured because of another party’s negligence, you can file a personal injury claim and recover financial compensation for your injuries and damages. Generally, for a personal injury case to prevail, the claimant must prove that the defendant was negligent, the defendant’s negligence was a direct cause of their injury, and they suffered damages. Several kinds of damages can be awarded in a successful personal injury claim. A personal injury claimant can recover economic and non-economic damages. Depending on the case’s specifics, a plaintiff may also be awarded punitive damages. But what happens if someone is injured by another party’s negligence, but they don’t have enough evidence to prove their losses or their injuries are minor or negligible? Often, a lack of evidence to prove losses or a lack of serious injuries will result in the disqualification of a personal injury claim. However, in some instances, if the defendant was negligent but the claimant has failed to present evidence of their losses, the court may award nominal damages. Nominal damages are usually small amounts of money. These damages may be as little as $1 because nominal damages are not to make the claimant whole for financial losses.
What Are Nominal Damages?
Nominal damages are a trivial amount of money awarded to a claimant to honor the fact that their legal rights have been violated, but no actual loss can be proven. The court may award nominal damages if a personal injury claimant establishes liability but fails to establish losses. In most cases, nominal damages total $1. However, in some cases, the sum can be a bit higher.
Sometimes, when the court awards a personal injury claimant nominal damages, they may also order the defendant to pay the claimant’s legal fees. A defendant may be ordered to pay a sum many times the amount of nominal damages in legal fees. However, it is vital to note that some states do not allow courts to order a defendant to pay a claimant’s legal fees in a case where the claimant is awarded nominal damages.
Why Would Someone Pursue Nominal Damages?
Considering the fact that nominal damages can be as little as $1, you may wonder why anyone would go through the trouble of filing a personal injury claim to seek nominal damages. Well, in these types of cases, the focus is not usually money. The following are some of the reasons people choose to seek nominal damages;
- To establish that the defendant was negligent or, in other words, to seek justice
- To set a legal precedent for claims that may be filed against the defendant in the future
- To absolve the claimant of any legal responsibility or liability for the accident
- The claimant wants to attempt to recover punitive damages, which are not meant to compensate for actual loss but rather to punish the defendant and deter similar behavior in the future.
If you are considering filing a personal injury claim, it is crucial that you speak to an attorney to determine what damages you are likely to be awarded. If you are only likely to recover nominal damages, take time to determine if it is worth it to pursue your claim.
Contact Us for Legal Guidance
Contact our Jacksonville personal injury attorneys at The Pendas Law Firm if you need legal guidance. The Pendas Law Firm also represents clients in the Tampa, Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale, Bradenton, Daytona Beach, Ocala, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Miami, Naples, and Melbourne areas.