LSDefine

Simple English definitions for legal terms

punitive damages

Read a random definition: breach of warranty

A quick definition of punitive damages:

Punitive damages are extra money that a court may order a defendant to pay on top of the actual damages. They are meant to punish the defendant for doing something really bad. Punitive damages are usually only given in cases where the defendant did something on purpose or was very reckless. They are not usually given in cases where someone just broke a contract. Punitive damages are only given in about 5% of cases. Courts will look at how bad the defendant's behavior was and how much money the plaintiff should get before deciding if punitive damages are needed.

A more thorough explanation:

Definition: Punitive damages are additional damages awarded by a court in certain circumstances. They are considered punishment and are given when the defendant's behavior is found to be especially harmful.

Punitive damages are not usually awarded in cases of breach of contract. They are typically only awarded in cases of tort liability, where the plaintiff can prove that the defendant engaged in intentional or willful misconduct.

For example, if someone intentionally harms another person, the court may award punitive damages in addition to compensatory damages (which are meant to compensate the victim for their losses).

However, courts are reluctant to award punitive damages on the principal for the reckless actions of the agent, unless the principal encouraged or caused the agent's recklessness.

It's important to note that some contracts may list certain "liquidated damages" as a consequence of a breach. However, if these damages are actually punitive in nature, a court may choose to ignore the clause.

Overall, courts only apply punitive damages in about 5% of verdicts. When considering whether to award punitive damages, courts will focus on the reprehensibility of the defendant's behavior and the ratio of punitive damages to compensatory damages.

puffing | pur autre vie

General

General chat about the legal profession.

General >T14 Off Topic

👍 Chat vibe: 0 👎

WhatItDoBayybeeee

13:46

shits weird

Mountaineer99

13:49

imagine doing optionals

ValleyH

13:50

Imagine being 10 points above a T200 school and still getting WL'd :')

ValleyH

13:51

Stupid yield protection

WhatItDoBayybeeee

13:52

for their ranking they have really solid acceptance rate and yield lmao its strange

Mountaineer99

13:52

i'm not trying to disparage anyone but UNT is one of those no other options schools for a lot of people

GloveDontSplitUMustAcquit

14:00

law school transparency says that 10 PERCENT of washington and lee 1L's transferred out of the school last year...

UncleMacisBack

14:00

T200s don’t really YP

GloveDontSplitUMustAcquit

14:00

what do they know

AngelHairScreenager

14:02

I was told that UPenn WL students getting updates this week

AngelHairScreenager

14:02

some people are getting dropped from WL also

UncleMacisBack

14:02

Yeah Penn will cut like 90 percent of its waitlist soon

Seagulleagle10

14:02

how does getting dropped from a waitlist work like how do schools usually go about deciding that

GloveDontSplitUMustAcquit

14:03

i would cut my dick off for a unicorn penn a

UncleMacisBack

14:04

Basically just send you the R letter and change your status from waitlisted to denied

legallydillydallying

14:05

is there any way to guess hls aid? trying to decide if i'd actually go there if admitted off the WL (big reach), especially since they don't give aid info until after you commit :/

ClassyPleasantHeron

14:07

@Seagulleagle10: There are two main ways. One way is to tell a school that you only want to stay on the list until X date. The other way is to fall outside of what a school wants from their waitlist, which changes as the cycle comes to a close. For example, if a school needs to shore up its medians, they don't have a reason to keep double-unders on the waitlist.

ClassyPleasantHeron

14:09

I suppose there might be other, legitimate reasons why a school might drop people from its waitlist. For example, there's practically zero housing in Berkeley, so there's no reason for UC Berk to keep out-of-state residents past, say, end of July, because there wouldn't be anywhere for them to shelter.

ClassyPleasantHeron

14:10

Just thought of one other reason: if the school sends a follow-up survey, they likely will drop you if you don't reply to it.

Pongleton

14:10

@legallydillydallying: if you're old enough that parent support won't count for HLS I bet you could get a pretty good idea of your aid. But parent assets tend to confuse since they assume your parents are like willing to remortgage their house if they own one, borrow against assets, etc

Pongleton

14:11

https://hls.harvard.edu/sfs/financial-aid/financial-aid-policy/parent-resources/#determination-of-family-parent-resources

legallydillydallying

14:11

not old enough yet, but my parents have no assets (no property, investments, retirement, etc.)

Pongleton

14:12

that link might be a wee bit helpful!

legallydillydallying

14:12

thanks :)

Seagulleagle10

14:13

@ClassyPleasantHeron: Appreciate the insight!

HomelyLyingMouse

14:13

harvard law is mid dont go ever

HomelyLyingMouse

14:13

ill never apply there

HomelyLyingMouse

14:13

they suck

HomelyLyingMouse

14:14

top 3 worst schools

HomelyLyingMouse

14:14

(they rejected my ugly ass)

LSD+ is ad-free, with DMs, discounts, case briefs & more.