Also known as: compensation · monetary remedy
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A monetary award granted to compensate a party for loss or injury caused by another's wrongful act or breach. The award restores the injured party to the position it would have occupied absent the harm. Computation requires evidence of the nature and extent of the loss.
Dorothy Daniels contracted to purchase land from Desert Oil. At closing the seller could not deliver clear title because of an unreleased lien. Dorothy refused to close and sued for the difference between the contract price and the property's reduced value caused by the defect.
Derek Douglas owned waterfront parcels taken by the state for a public highway. He filed an inverse-condemnation action seeking the fair market value of the land plus severance damages to the remaining parcels.
Diego Duarte sued Dynamic Solutions for breach of a supply contract. In his initial disclosures he provided a spreadsheet calculating lost profits, incidental costs, and interest, together with the underlying invoices and sales records.
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Dorothy Daniels contracted to buy goods from Desert Oil. When the seller failed to deliver, Dorothy proved market price exceeded contract price at breach and recovered the difference plus incidental costs shown by invoices.
Diego Duarte sued Dynamic Solutions after a breach. He introduced evidence showing actual loss occurred and was legally compensable, allowing the court to award damages based on the proven amount.
Derek Douglas bought goods that the seller repudiated. He recovered the difference between market price at breach and contract price together with incidental damages established by records.
The plaintiff must show that the defendant's conduct caused harm of a kind legally compensable by a monetary award. Evidence must establish both the fact and the amount of the loss with reasonable certainty.
Punitive damages are not recoverable for breach of contract alone. They become available only when the breaching conduct also constitutes a tort for which punitive damages are recognized under applicable law.
The buyer may recover the difference between the market price at the time of breach and the contract price, plus incidental and consequential damages, less expenses saved.
…CONSIDERATIONS. Examined as an expression of public policy, the Court's new regime proves so dubious that there can be no due compensation for its weakness in constitutional law. The foregoing discussion has shown, I think, how mistaken is the Court in implying that the Constitution has struck the balance in favor of the…