Legal Term Dictionary

A pecuniary compensation or indemnity, which may be recovered in the courts by apy person who has suffered loss, detriment, or injury, whether to his person, property, or rights, through the unlawful act or omission or negligence of another. Scott v. Donald, 165 U. S. 58, 17 Sup. Ct 265, More...

A pecuniary compensation or indemnity, which may be recovered in the courts by apy person who has suffered loss, detriment, or injury, whether to his person, property, or rights, through the unlawful act or omission or negligence of another. Scott v. Donald, 165 U. S. 58, 17 Sup. Ct 265, 41 L. Ed. 632; Crane v. Peer, 43 N. J. Eq. 553, 4 Atl. 72; Cincinnati v. Hafer, 49 Ohio St 60, 30 N. E. 197; Wainscott v. Loan Ass'n, 98 Cal. 253, 33 Pac. 88; Carvill v. Jacks, 43 Ark. 449; Collins v. Railroad Co., 9 Heisk. (Tenn.) 850; New York v. Lord, 17 Wend. (N. Y.) 293; O'Connor v. Dils, 43 W. Va. 54, 26 S. E. 354. A sum of money assessed by a jury, oh finding for the plaintiff or successful party In an action, as a compensation for the injury done him by the opposite party. 2 Bl. Comm. 438; Co. Litt 257a; 2 Tidd, Pr. 869, 870. Every person who suffers detriment from the unlawful act or omission of another may recover from the person in fault a compensation therefor in money, which is called "damages." Civ. Code Cal. { 3281; Civ. Code Dak. { 1940. In the ancient usage, the word "damages" was employed in two significations. According to Coke, its proper and general sense included the coats of suit, while its strict or relative sense was exclusive of costs. 10 Coke, 116, 117; Co. Litt. 257a; 9 East, 299. The latter meaning has alone survived. Classification. Damages are either general or special. General damages are such as the law itself implies or presumes to have accrued from the wrong complained of, for the reason that they are its immediate, direct, and proximate result, or such as necessarily result from the injury, or such as did in fact result from the wrong, directly and proximately, and without reference to the special character, condition, or circumstances of the plaintiff. Mood v. Telegraph Co., 40 S. C. 52? 19 S. E. 67; Manufacturing Co. v. Gridley, 28 Conn. 212: Irrigation Co. v. Canal Co., 23 Utah, 199, 63 Pac. 812; Smith v. Railway Co., 30 Minn. 169, 14 N. W. 797; Loftus-v. Bennett 68 App. Div. 128, 74 N. Y. Supp. 290. Special damages are those which are the actual, but not the necessary, result of the injury complained of, and which in fact follow it as a natural and proximate consequence in the particular case, that is, by reason of special circumstances or conditions. Hence general damages are such as might accrue to any person similarly injured, while special damages are such as did in fact accrue to the particular individual by reason of the particular circumstances of the case. Wallace v. Ah Sam, 71 Cal. 197, 12 Pac. 46. 60 Am. Rep. 534; Manufacturing Co. v. Gridley, 28 Conn. 212; Lawrence v. Porter, 63 Fed. 62, 11 C. C. A. 27, 26 L. R. A. 167; Roberts v. Graham. 6 Wall. 579.18 U Ed. 791; Fry v. McCord, 95 Tenn. 678, 33 S. W. 568. Direct and consequential. Direct damages are such as follow immediately upon the act done; while consequential damages are the necessary and connected effect of the wrongful act, flowing from some of its consequences or results, though to some extent depending on other circumstances. Civ. Code Ga. 1895, f 3911; Pearson v. Spartanburg County, 51 S. C. 480,' 29 S. E. 193; Eaton v. Railroad Co., 51 N. H. 504, 12 Am. Rep. 147. Liquidated and unliquidated. The former term is applicable when the amount of the damages has been ascertained by the judgment in the action, or when a specific sum of money has been expressly stipulated by the parties to a bond or other contract as the amount of damages to be recovered by either party for a breach of the agreement by the other. Watts v. Shep-pard, 2 Ala. 445; Smith v. Smith, 4 Wend. (N. x*.) 470; Keeble v. Keeble, 85 Ala. 552. 5 South. 149; Eakin v. Scott, 70 Tex. 442, 7 S. W. 777. Unliquidated damages are such as are not yet reduced to a certainty in reepect of amount, nothing more being established than the plaintiff's right to recover; or such as cannot be fixed by a mere mathematical calculation from ascertained data in the case. Cox v. McLaughlin, 76 Cal. 60, 18 Pac. 100, 9 Am. St. Rep. 164. Nominal and substantial. Nominal damages are a trifling sum awarded to a plaintiff in an action, where there is no substantial loss or injury, to be compensated, but still the law recognizes a technical invasion of his rights or a breach of the defendant's duty, or in cases where, although there has been a real injury, the plaintiffs evidence entirely fails to show its amount. Maher v. Wilson, 139 Cal. 514. 73 Pac. 418; Stanton v. Railroad Co.. 59 Conn. 272, 22 Atl. 300, 21 Am. St. Rep. 110: Springer v. Fuel Co.. 196 Pa. 156, 46 Atl. 370; Telegraph Co. v. Lawson. 66 Kan. 660, 72 Pac. 283; Railroad Co. v. Watson, 37 Kan. 773, 15 Pac 877. Substantial damages are considerable in amount, and intended as a real compensation for a real injury. Compensatory and exemplary. Compensatory damages are such as will compensate the injured party for the injury sustained, and nothing more; such as will simply make good or replace the loss caused by tbe wrong or injury. McKnight v. Denny, 198 Pa. 323, 47 Atl. 970; Reid v. Terwilli*er. 116 N. Y. 530. 22 N. E. 1091; Monongahela Nav. Co. v. U. S., 148 U. S. 312, 13 Sup. Ct. 622. 37 L. Ed. 463; Wade v. Power Co.. 51 S. C. 296, 29 S. E. 233. 64 Am. St Rep. 676; Gatzow v. Buening, 106 Wis. 1, 81 N. W. 1003, 49 L. R. A. 475, 80 Am. St. Rep. 1. Exemplary damages are damages on an increased scale, awarded to the plaintiff over and above what will barely compensate him for his property loss, where the wrong done to him was aggravated by circumstances of violence, oppression, malice, fraud, or wanton and wicked conduct on the part of the defendant and are intended to solace the plaintiff for mental anguish, laceration of his feelings, shame, degradation, or other aggravations of the original wrong, or else to punish the defendant for hia evil behavior or to make an example of him. for which reason they are also called "punitive" or "punitory" damages or "vindictive" damages, and (vulgarly) "smart-money." Reid T. Terwilliger, 116 N. Y. 530, 22 N. E. 1091; Springer v. Fuel Co., 196 Pa. St. 156, 46 AtL 370: Scott v. Donald, 165 U. S. 58, 17 Sup. Ct. 265, 41 L. Ed. 632; Gillingham v. Railroad Co., 35 W. Va. 588, 14 S. E. 243, 14 L. R. A. 798, 29 Am. St. Rep. 827; Boydan v. Habers-tumpf, 129 Mich. 137, 88 N. W. 386: Oliver Railroad Co., 65 S. C. 1, 43 S. E. 307; Murphy v. Hobbe, 7 Colo. 541, 5 Pac. 119, 49 Am. Repw 366. Proximate and remote. Proximate damages are the immediate and direct damages and natural results of the act complained of, and auch as are usual and might have been expected. Remote damages are those attributable immediately to an intervening cause, though it forms a link in an unbroken chain of causation, so that the remote damage would not have occurred if its elements had not been set in motion by the original act or event Henry v. Railroad Co., 50 Cal. 183; Kuhn v. Jewett, 32 N. J. Ed. 649; Pielke v. Railroad Co., 5 Dak. 444, 41 N. W. 669. The terms "remote damages" and "consequential damages" are not synonymous nor to De used interchangeably; all remote damage is consequential, but it is by no means true that all consequential damage is remote. Eaton v. Railroad Co., 51 N. H. 511, 12 Am. Rep. 147. Other compound and descriptive terms. -Actual damages are real, substantial and just damages, or the amount awarded to a complainant in compensation for his actual and real loss or injury, as opposed on the one hand to "nominal" damages, and on the other to "exemplary" or "punitive damages. Ross v. Leg-sett, 61 Mich. 445, 28 N. W. 695, 1 Am. St Rep. 60S: Lord v. Wood, 120 Iowa, 303, 94 N. W. 842; Western Union Tel. Co. v. Law-son, 66 Kan. 660, 72 Pac. 283; Field v. Mun-ster, 11 Tex. Civ. App. 341, 32 S. W. 417; Oliver v. Columbia, etc., R. Co.. 65 & C. 1, 43 S. E. 807; Gatcow v. Buening, 106 Wis. 1, 81 N. W. 1003, 49 L. R. A. 475, 80 Am. St Rep. 1; Osborn v. Leach, 135 N. C. 628. 47 S. E. 811, 66 L. R. A. 648: Gen. St. Minn. 1894, | 5418.-Affirmative damages. In admiralty law, affirmative damages are damages which a respondent in a libel for injuries to a vessel may recover, which may be in excess of any amount which the libellant would be entitled to claim. Ebert v. The Reuben Doud (D. C.) 3 Fed. 520.-Civil damages. Those awarded against a liquor-seller to the relative, guardian, or employer of the person to whom the sales were made, on a snowing that the plaintiff has been thereby injured in person, property, or means of support. Headington v. Smith, 113 Iowa, 107. 84 N. W. 982.-Contingent damages. Where a demurrer has been filed to one or more counts in a declaration, and its consideration, is postponed, and meanwhile other counts in the same declaration, not demurred to, are taken as issues, and tried, and damages awarded upon them, such damages are called "contingent damages."-Continuing damages are such as accrue from the same injury, or from the repetition of similar acts, between two specified periods of time.-Double damages. Twice the amount of actual damages as found by the verdict of a jury allowed by statute In some cases of injuries by negligence, fraud, or trespass. Cross v. United States. 6 Fed. Cas. 892; Daniel v. Vaccaro. 41 Ark. 329.--Excessive damages. Damages awarded by a jury which are grossly in excess of the amount warranted by law on the facts and circumstances of the case; unreasonable or outrageous damages. A verdict giving excessive damages is ground for a new trial. Taylor v. Giger, Hardin (Ky.) 587: Harvesting Mach. Co. v. Gray. 114 Ind. 340. 16 N. E. 787. -Fee damages. Damages sustained by and awarded to an abutting owner of real property occasioned by the construction and operation of an elevated railroad in a city street, are so called, because compensation is made to the owner for the injury to, or deprivation of, his easements of light, air, and access, and these are parts of the fee. Dode v. Railway Co., 70 Hun, 374, 24 N. Y. Supp. 422; People v. Barker, 165 N. Y. 305, 59 N. B. 151-Inadequate damages. Damages are called "inadequate," within the rule that an injunction will not be granted where adequate damages at law could be recovered for the injury sought to be prevented, when such a recovery at law would not compensate the parties and place them in the position in which they formerly stood. Insurance Co. v. Bonner, 7 Colo. App. 97, 42 Pac. 681.-Imaginary damages. This term is sometimes used as equivalent to "exemplary," oVindictive," or "punitive" damages. Murphy v. Hobbs, 7 Colo. 541, 5 Pac. 119, 49 Am. Rep. 366.-Intervening damages. Such damages to an appellee as result from the delay caused by the appeal. McGregor v. Balch, 17 Vt 56S; Peasely v. Buckminster, -1 Tyler (Vt.) 267; Roberts v. Warner, 17 Vt. 46, 42 Am. Dec. 478. -Land damages. A term sometimes applied to the amount of compensation to be paid for land taken under the power of eminent domain or for injury to, or depreciation of, land adjoining that taken. People v. Hilts, 27 Misc. Rep. 290, 58 N. Y. Supp. 434: In re Lent, 47 App. Div. 349, 62 N. Y. Supp. 227.-Necessary damages. A term said to be of much wider scope in the law of damages than "pecuniary." It embraces all those consequences of an injury usually denominated "general" damages, as distinguished from special damages; whereas the phrase "pecuniary damages'* covers a smaller class' of damages within the larger class of "general" damages. Browning v. Wabash Western R. Co. (Mo.) 24 S. W. 746.-Pecuniary damages. Such as can be estimated in and compensated by money; not merely the loss of money or salable property or rights, but all such loss, deprivation, or injury as can be made the subject of calculation and of recompense in money. Walker v. McNeill, 17 Wash. 582, 50 Pac. 518: Searle v. Railroad Co., 32 W. Va. 370, 9 S. E. 248; Mclntyre v. Railroad Co., 37 N. Y. 295; Davidson Benedict Co. v. Severson, 109 Tenn. 572, 72 S. W. 967.-Presumptive damages. A term occasionally used as the equivalent of "exemplary" or "punitive" damages. Murphy v. Hobbs, 7 Cofo. 541, 5 Pac. 119, 49 Am. Rep. 366.-Prospective damages. Damages which are expected to follow from the act or state of facts made the basis of a plaintiffs suit; damages which have not yet accrued, at the time of the trial, but which, in the nature of things, must necessarily, or most probably, result from the acts or facts complained of.-Speculative damages. Prospective or anticipated damages from the same acts or facts constituting the present cause of action, but which depend upon future developments which are contingent, conjectural, or improbable.-Damages ultra. Additional damages claimed by a plaintiff not satisfied with those paid into court by the defendant. Less...

In old English law. Causing damage or loss, as distinguished from torcenouse, wrongful. Britt. c. 61.

In old English law. Causing damage or loss, as distinguished from torcenouse, wrongful. Britt. c. 61. Less...

In English law. The legal designation of the wife of a knight or baronet.

In English law. The legal designation of the wife of a knight or baronet. Less...

Damages, both inclusive and exclusive of costs.

Damages, both inclusive and exclusive of costs. Less...

In old English law. Condemned ; prohibited by law; unlawful. Dam-natus coitus, an unlawful connection.

In old English law. Condemned ; prohibited by law; unlawful. Dam-natus coitus, an unlawful connection. Less...

An action given by the civil law for the damage done by one who intentionally injured the slave or beast of another. Calvin.

An action given by the civil law for the damage done by one who intentionally injured the slave or beast of another. Calvin. Less...

That which causes damage or loss.

That which causes damage or loss. Less...

To cause damage or injurious loss to a person or put him in a position where he must sustain it. A surety is "damnified" when a judgment has been obtained against him. McLean v. Bank. 16 Fed. Cas. 278.

To cause damage or injurious loss to a person or put him in a position where he must sustain it. A surety is "damnified" when a judgment has been obtained against him. McLean v. Bank. 16 Fed. Cas. 278. Less...

In the civil law. A losing inheritance; an inheritance that was a charge, instead of a benefit. Dig. 50, 16, 119. The term has also been applied to that species of property of a bankrupt which, so far from being valuable, would be a charge to the creditors; for example, More...

In the civil law. A losing inheritance; an inheritance that was a charge, instead of a benefit. Dig. 50, 16, 119. The term has also been applied to that species of property of a bankrupt which, so far from being valuable, would be a charge to the creditors; for example, a term of years where the rent- would exceed the revenue. 7 East, 342; 3 Camp. 340; 1 Esp. N. P. 234; Provident L. A Trust Co. v. Fidelity, etc., Co., 203 Pa. 82, 52 Atl. 34. Less...

Lat. In the civil law. Damage; the loss or diminution of -what Is a man's own, either by fraud, carelessness, or accident In pleading and old English law. Damage; loss. -Damnum fatale. Fatal damage; damage from fate; loss happening from a cause beyond human control, {quod ex fato contingit,) or More...

Lat. In the civil law. Damage; the loss or diminution of -what Is a man's own, either by fraud, carelessness, or accident In pleading and old English law. Damage; loss. -Damnum fatale. Fatal damage; damage from fate; loss happening from a cause beyond human control, {quod ex fato contingit,) or an act of God, and for which bailees are not liable; such as shipwreck, lightning, and the like. Dig. 4. 9, 3. 1; Story, Bailm. ft 4(J5. The civilians included in the phrase "damnum fatale" all those accidents which are summed up in the common-law expression, "Act of God or public enemies;" though, perhaps, it embraced some which would not now be admitted as occurring from an irresistible force. Thickstun v. Howard. 8 Blackf. (Ind.) 535.--Damnum infectum. In Roman law. Damage not yet committed, but threatened or impending. A preventive interdict might be obtained to prevent such damage from happening; and it was treated as a quasi-delict, because of the imminence of the danger.-pamnum rei amisssd. In the civil law. A loss arising from a payment made by a party in' consequence of an error of law. Mackeld. Rom. Law. ? 178. Less...