Punitive Damages And Personal Injury Claims In Los Angeles, California
If you've been injured because of someone else, you have the right to sue them and hold them liable for the financial and emotional losses you sustain. A successful personal injury claim in California can get you a payout that's tantamount to the expenses and emotional distress you've experienced because of your injury.
You can compel a defendant to pay you these damages, often calculated based on your losses and presented by your California accident lawyer.
That said, there's another type of damages that you don't really have control over. Besides convincing the jury of how dire your condition is, there is no way for you to dictate how much punitive damages the court will allow.
So, what are punitive damages in California? How are they decided? And what are they for?
What Damages Can You Claim For Personal Injury In California?
The goal of civil lawsuits in the State of California is to assist the plaintiff or damaged party in returning to their regular lives. To accomplish this, juries and courts award the plaintiff compensatory damages.
A monetary award to the plaintiff as compensation for losses or injuries is known as compensatory damages. Losses in a personal injury case brought on by another person's negligence or carelessness might include lost wages, property losses, pain and suffering, and other non-economic damages.
This is to help you recover all the financial and emotional losses you've incurred because of your injuries. Your California accident lawyer will consider all the receipts, documents, and emotional struggles you go through and calculate the potential value of your case based on that.
What Qualifies For Punitive Damages In California?
Punitive damages are not intended to compensate the plaintiff for losses sustained due to negligence or an injury accident. Instead, these damages are meant to hold the defendant accountable for their careless and egregious actions.
Punitive damages serve as a warning that this kind of behavior is unacceptable. So, in a personal injury lawsuit, the defendant also faces punishment in addition to the losses they must pay as compensatory damages.
Punitive damages, as opposed to compensatory damages (such as medical costs, property damage, lost wages, automobile repairs, etc.), are determined by the decency of the defendant's conduct and their financial means.
These damages are given to punish the defendant for their wrongdoing and act as a deterrence to society, preventing others from engaging in similarly wrongdoing behavior that leads to severe injury. Hence, you need a skilled accident lawyer in California who is able to convince the courts of how severe the effects of the injuries have been on you, financially and emotionally.
What Qualifies For Punitive Damages In California?
The plaintiff must show beyond a reasonable doubt that the wrongdoer's or at-fault party's actions constituted fraud, oppression, or malice.
This could apply to situations when someone has been hurt in a motor vehicle accident, such as a car, motorcycle, truck, bicycle, or other motor vehicle accident. For the affected people to receive compensation, a skilled accident lawyer in California is required.
When determining punitive damages, California courts take into account a number of additional considerations. These consist of the following:
The type of action
The defendant's motivation for committing a wrongdoing
They are compared on a scale to the harm the perpetrator has caused the plaintiff
By pursuing financial compensation and a settlement offer that may include punitive damages in a personal injury claim, the negligent party should be held accountable for any back injuries, catastrophic injuries, broken bones, physical pain, accident injuries, or personal injuries resulting from their negligence.
How Are Punitive Damages Calculated In California?
The amount of the punitive damage award is determined according to no set formula. But before making such a decision, the jury takes into account the following:
What was the defendant's behavior, and how despicable was it?
Whether or whether there is a fair connection between the amount of the punitive damages and the loss suffered by the plaintiff
How much should be paid to punish the offender and deter them from doing it again in the future?
If you have any questions about potential punitive damages that can be awarded, consult your California accident lawyer.
Is There A Punitive Damages Limit In California?
Technically, there is no damage cap to how much a jury can award. However, they need to exercise discretion, and it should be proportional to the harm/damage done. For example, a simple DUI case should not have punitive damages in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Take note that the US Supreme Court has often ruled that punitive damages cannot be wildly out of proportion to the plaintiff's real damages. Punitive damages may be deemed unlawful if they are egregiously disproportionate.
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