Guide · Litigation
Damages and Remedies: A Comprehensive Guide to Categories, Proof, Limits, and Collection
17 U.S.C. § 504
- Type
- Guide
- Jurisdiction
- National
- Date
- 2025-06-21
- Topic
- Litigation
This guide covers the law of civil damages and remedies from category selection through collection. It begins with the compensatory principle and the three requirements — causation, foreseeability, and reasonable certainty — that every claim must satisfy. It then treats contract damages in detail, including the expectation measure, lost profits proof, reliance and restitution alternatives, liquidated damages, and contractual limitations. Tort damages follow, covering economic and non-economic loss, future care, earning capacity, present value, and wrongful death. Separate parts address mitigation and offsets, the collateral source rule, comparative fault, punitive damages and their constitutional limits, statutory damages and multiplier schemes, attorney fees, and interest and taxation. Later parts cover the mechanics of proof including expert practice and disclosure obligations, the procedural devices that alter recovery, equitable remedies as alternatives, and post-judgment enforcement including exemptions and fraudulent transfer.
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