What Are Damages?
Damages are compensation, usually in monetary form, awarded in a civil court case for an injury or loss caused by another person’s negligence.
What Are Damages?
According to the American Bar Association (ABA), damages are tangible and non-tangible losses that can be quantified and documented, providing direct financial assistance to an injured party. Examples of damages can include medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and property damage.
Damages are important in restoring the injured party to the position they would have been in had the wrongdoing not occurred. This concept is fundamental in both tort and contract law, where it addresses breaches of duty or contract, provides a financial measure of reparation, and is even more important in personal injury cases where the injured party receives compensatory damages for medical bills and pain and suffering.
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Car Accident Round-Up – Teens Involved in Serious VA and NY Accidents
Car accidents claim lives around the United States
Teenagers Die in VA Car Accident
A car accident in Portsmouth, VA late Saturday night left two teenagers dead and one seriously injured. The accident that occurred on Elmhurst Lane near Victory Boulevard apparently was the result of speeding. The car swerved off the road then struck several trees and a utility pole ejecting two of the occupants and pinning the third in the car. The two girls that died were 16-years-old. The third occupant, a 17-year-old male, was hospitalized with unspecified injuries. Police are unsure of who was driving the car.
Former KY Governor’s Son Dead After Single-Car Wreck
According to the Lexington-Herald Leader, former Kentucky governor Julian Carroll’s son, Bradley, died in a single-car accident Sunday in Franklin County, KY. Carroll was traveling south on US 421 near the Versailles Road overpass when his Ford Explorer went off the right side of the road, […]
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San Diego Man Awarded $2.4 Million in Asbestos Exposure Lawsuit
A San Diego Navy Veteran who was diagnosed in 2010 with mesothelioma, an asbestos-caused cancer, was awarded $2.4 million in damages after his disease was found to be attributed to his work in ship boiler rooms.
The lawsuit, filed against John Crane, Inc., claimed the plaintiff was exposed to asbestos while serving in the Navy from 1961 to 1971 in his work in the maintenance and repair of boilers, pumps and valves. The suit claimed John Crane made some of the asbestos-containing packing material and gaskets in the equipment.
The total damages of about $2.4 million include nearly $1.4 million in noneconomic damages and $450,000 for loss of consortium. The jury found John Crane five percent liable, the Navy and insulation companies 57 percent at fault, some manufacturers and suppliers 37 percent at fault. […]
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Car Accident Round-Up – CO Accident Takes Life of TX Billionaire
Texas billionaire broadsided by sports utility vehicle in Colorado
Texas Billionaire Dies in CO Car Accident
Charles Wyly, a 77-year-old Texas billionaire and philanthropist, died near Aspen, CO in a two-car crash on Sunday. Wyly, who was driving a Porsche, was turning back onto the highway near the airport, when his car was broadsided by a sport utility vehicle. Police believe Wyly failed to yield prior to entering the highway. Wyly, who was central to building the Dallas Arts District, was pronounced dead at the local hospital. The other driver suffered moderate injuries.
Rear-end Collision in FL on I-95 Kills One, Injures Two
A car stopped on the northbound lanes of I-95, north of Okeechobee Boulevard near exit 71, was rear-ended by another car early Sunday morning resulting in the death of a passenger, and serious injuries to the two drivers. The interstate was closed for close to four hours while rescue workers worked at the scene. […]
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Family of WVa Nursing Home Resident Who Received Poor Care Awarded $91.5 Million
The family of an elderly woman suffering from Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s disease and several other conditions, received $91.5 million in damages from a Charleston, West Virginia nursing home. The elderly woman was a patient for just three weeks at Heartland of Charleston nursing home where the workers failed to feed and care for her leading to her death just one day after transferring to another facility.
The lawsuit alleged that while living with her son, the woman’s health had improved to where she could walk, speak and recognize family members. However, when she was checked into Heartland the staff confined the woman to a wheelchair, labeling her a fall risk.
The family’s lawyer argued that Heartland did not have enough staff to properly care for the woman and the other patients. Some former Heartland workers testified properly caring for all of the residents was impossible. […]
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California Women Awarded $1.2 Million in DUI Civil Lawsuit
Two CA women receive settlement after being hit by drunk driver
Two women, who suffered permanent injuries after an automobile accident with an assistant district attorney in Los Angeles who was driving drunk, agreed to a $1.2 million settlement in a civil lawsuit against the woman. The two women had already been awarded more than $1 million in compensatory damages by a jury.
The assistant DA had a BAC of .26, more than three times the legal limit, and admitted that she knew she was drunk. She decided to drive anyway in hopes that she would get home without getting caught. In the April 2010 accident, she rear-ended the two women near Long Beach, CA resulting in one woman suffering back injuries, facial scars and lost teeth, and the other suffering from back injuries.
The women had sought $2 million, but agreed to the settlement to avoid a second trial and to get immediate payment. […]
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