Compensatory, punitive and nominal damages Bar Exam Flashcards - Medical Study Cards
Master Compensatory, punitive and nominal damages with Oncourse flashcards. These spaced repetition flashcards are designed for medical students preparing for NEET PG, USMLE Step 1, USMLE Step 2, MBBS exams, and other medical licensing examinations.
Compensatory, punitive and nominal damages Flashcard Deck - 10 Cards
Flashcard 1: When may punitive damages be awarded?
Answer: Punitive damages may be awarded for conduct motivated by malice or involving willful, wanton, or reckless disregard for the rights of others. Under the majority rule, the plaintiff must prove the basis for punitive damages by clear and convincing evidence.
Flashcard 2: When are nominal damages available in tort?
Answer: Nominal damages may be awarded when the defendant commits an actionable intentional tort but the plaintiff cannot prove actual damages. They ordinarily are not available for negligence without legally recognized harm.
Flashcard 3: What proof is required for an award of future damages?
Answer: Future damages must be proven with reasonable certainty rather than based on speculation. Future monetary damages generally are discounted to present value.
Flashcard 4: Under the traditional and Restatement majority approach, how is indivisible harm caused by multiple tortfeasors apportioned?
Answer: Each joint tortfeasor may be held jointly and severally liable for the entire indivisible injury, allowing the plaintiff to recover the judgment from any responsible tortfeasor. A tortfeasor who pays more than that tortfeasor’s equitable share generally may seek contribution from the others, subject to jurisdictional modifications.
Flashcard 5: How does comparative negligence affect a plaintiff’s damages?
Answer: The plaintiff’s recovery is reduced in proportion to the plaintiff’s percentage of fault under a comparative-fault system. In modified comparative negligence jurisdictions, recovery is barred when the plaintiff’s fault reaches the jurisdiction’s threshold, commonly 50% or 51%.
Flashcard 6: What is the collateral-source rule?
Answer: Under the majority rule, benefits the plaintiff receives from insurance or another independent source do not reduce the defendant’s damages liability. Many jurisdictions modify this rule by statute.
Flashcard 7: What is the eggshell-plaintiff rule for damages?
Answer: A defendant takes the plaintiff as found and is liable for the full extent of the foreseeable injury caused by the tort, even if the plaintiff’s preexisting condition makes the injury unusually severe. The defendant is not liable for harm that would have occurred without the defendant’s conduct.
Flashcard 8: What is the purpose of compensatory damages, and what two broad categories do they include?
Answer: Compensatory damages are intended to restore the plaintiff to the position the plaintiff would have occupied absent the tort. They include economic damages, such as medical expenses and lost earnings, and noneconomic damages, such as pain and suffering.
Flashcard 9: What constitutional limitations apply to punitive damages?
Answer: The Due Process Clause generally requires punitive damages to bear a reasonable relationship to the reprehensibility of the conduct and the actual or potential harm, and it treats single-digit ratios to compensatory damages as more likely constitutional. Extremely high punitive-to-compensatory ratios are presumptively suspect, especially when compensatory damages are substantial.
Flashcard 10: What is the plaintiff’s duty to mitigate damages?
Answer: A plaintiff must take reasonable steps to avoid or reduce the consequences of the defendant’s tort. Damages attributable to the plaintiff’s unreasonable failure to mitigate are not recoverable.
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