In law, “damages” refers to the sum of money or other payments required to restore justice and make things right or whole again when a harm has been done.
When you have suffered harm and losses due to someone else’s negligence or wrongful actions, civil law allows you to seek compensation for these injuries. These compensations are known as “damages,” encompassing actual expenses like medical bills and lost wages, as well as the intangible harm such as emotional distress and physical pain.
In cases involving large commercial vehicles, damages can escalate to millions of dollars.
What Does Damages Mean? Let’s Break It Down In Layman’s Terms:
When someone is injured or experiences loss of property, life, ability to work, etc., it’s clear that these injuries and losses constitute damages to that individual.
Once legal proceedings begin, lawyers and courts determine a specific amount of money or other forms of compensation for these injuries and losses. This assigned amount is what is referred to as damages in a legal context.
Therefore, if you have sustained damages, you seek to recover the losses caused by others in order to restore you to your pre-injury state. This process is known as “recovering damages” in a legal case.
You might hear “damages” used like this, here’s what it means:
“What are the alleged damages in the case? What are the damages they are claiming?”
Translation: What amount of money and other compensation are they seeking for their injuries, property loss, and other damages? How much do they estimate all these damages to be worth?
“We are seeking $25,000 in damages.”
Translation: We believe that the injuries and property losses amount to $25,000, and that’s the compensation we are demanding for the injury and property loss.
