Contract Damages: How Courts Make the Injured Party Whole

35 questions on contract damages, answered and cited by the UpLaw editorial team.

• Are lost profits on a resale always “consequential” damages?
• Can a new business recover lost profits?
• Can a plaintiff recover expectation, reliance, and restitution damages together?
• Can parties limit remedies under the UCC?
• Can the winner of a breach of contract case recover attorney's fees?
• Can you recover punitive damages for breach of contract?
• Do “median contract damage award” statistics tell you what a case is worth?
• How are expectation damages calculated?
• How does a court actually compute a contract damages award, step by step?
• How do foreseeability and mitigation interact?
• How do parties contract around Hadley v. Baxendale?
• What are a buyer's damages remedies under UCC Article 2?
• What are a seller's damages remedies under UCC Article 2?
• What are incidental and consequential damages under the UCC?
• What are nominal damages, prejudgment interest, and costs?
• What are the three interests a contract damages remedy can protect?
• What did Hawkins v. McGee decide about measuring expectation?
• What does the duty to mitigate require of a wrongfully terminated employee?
• What is a liquidated damages clause?
• What is a lost-volume seller?
• What is “efficient breach”?
• What is the difference between direct and consequential damages?
• What is the duty to mitigate damages?
• What is the purpose of contract damages?
• What is the “reasonable certainty” requirement for contract damages?
• What is the rule of Hadley v. Baxendale?
• What role does causation play in a contract damages claim?
• When does UCC Article 2 govern a contract damages analysis?
• When is a liquidated damages clause enforceable, and when is it a penalty?
• When is restitution the right damages theory?
• When performance is defective, do courts award the cost to repair or the diminution in value?
• When should a plaintiff seek reliance damages instead of expectation damages?
• When will a court order specific performance instead of damages?
• When will equity refuse to order specific performance?
• Who bears the burden of proving failure to mitigate, and what standard applies?