Personal injury defense

Damages for Intentional Torts in North Carolina

North Carolina Personal Injury claims allow for multiple types of damage awards.  Damages for intentional torts or punitive damages are paid to compensate the victim.

Compensatory Damages (Actual Damages) - These damages are paid to make the victim of negligence or an intentional tort whole. More specifically, they are paid to compensate the victim for loss, injury or harm suffered. Basically the idea of compensatory damages are to make the plaintiff whole again - to make it as if the accident or intentional tort did not occur as best as the law can dictate. It is to place the victim in the same position the victim would have been in if the negligence did not occur. Although this could be literally impossible (e.g. the person loses a limb), the court places a dollar value on such items for compensation. For example, a leg is worth a certain amount of money. Not all legs would be equal either. A pro football player's leg would be worth far more than a person's leg that is already in a wheelchair. It is possible for these damages to include medical expenses (both present and future), property damage, lost wages and pain and suffering.

For instance, Robert is injured in a car crash when Jim speeds through a stop sign and plummets into Robert's compact car. As a result of this accident, Robert's right leg has to be amputated. Robert files suit against Jim for his automobile negligence suit. After the jury finds Jim liable, the compensatory damages would include any and all medical expenses that Robert had to pay or his insurance company had to pay. It would also include the money required to fix Robert's automobile (or to buy Robert a new car if it was totaled). Robert's pain and suffering from the car accident can also be quantified into a dollar amount, and Jim will likely have to pay that dollar amount also. Because of Robert's lost leg, he had to miss 4 weeks of work. Those lost wages can also be recovered in the lawsuit. All of these forms of damages are types of compensatory damages.

Let's assume that Robert was a mailman who had to walk up to many of the houses that he delivered mail to. As a result of this accident, Robert is no longer able to perform his job and is laid off. When he gets out of the hospital, he begins to work the McDonald's drive thru because that is the highest paying job he can get. For a case like this, it is likely that the compensatory damages would include the wage difference between being a mailman and working the McDonald's drive thru for many years to come. The reason for this is relatively simple, as Robert would have been able to continue his mailman job, but for Jim's negligence.

The North Carolina personal injury lawyers of Everett Law Firm, P.A. will work to ensure that you are fully compensated for your injuries to the extent insurance and the law allows.

Punitive Damages - These are damages in North Carolina that are awarded to punish or deter the responsible individual for the conduct that resulted in the injuries to an individual. The general rule for punitive damages is that only wanton, malicious, or grossly negligent conduct can warrant punitive damages. Judges frequently reduce punitive damages when the amount is grossly disproportionately large compared to the injury to the plaintiff that has occurred. The case on point for this is BMW v. Gore where the plaintiff received a multi-million dollar windfall because the jury awarded an tremendous amount of punitive damages to a man who bought a vehicle new with a defective paint job. The general rule is that punitive damages are not to exceed the compensatory damages by a factor of ten although it does occur.

North Carolina Intentional torts are where punitive damages are frequently awarded. For instance, Matthew gets very angry with Jessica because Jessica will not date him. One day Matthew sees Jessica holding hands with his best friend from college. In a jealous rage, Matthew runs up to Jessica and beats her with a baseball bat. As a result of the attack, Matthew is arrested and charged criminally with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious bodily injury. Since Matthew had a clean criminal record, he pleads guilty to assault on a female and gets two years of supervised probation. That is only the criminal portion of the litigation.

On the civil side, Jessica files suit against Matthew for assault and battery. Matthew is found liable for both torts and has to pay Jessica for the compensatory damages of $20,000, which included medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering etc. In addition, because Matthew's conduct was intentional and egregious enough, the jury also awards Jessica punitive damages to deter Matthew from further such behavior. They award Jessica 10 times her compensatory damages in addition to deter Matthew from similar future conduct. Due to this, Jessica will receive an additional $200,000 from Matthew.

The personal injury attorneys in Chapel Hill, NC of Everett Law Firm, P.A. will help you determine if a punitive damage claim is appropriate in your personal injury legal case and then work with you to maximize your recovery.