In the legal world, compensation for losses you’ve suffered is called “damages.”. Texas civil courts award damages to plaintiffs who have been harmed by a defendant’s negligence or misconduct.
In civil cases, there are two main categories of damages. Economic damages compensate the plaintiff for monetary losses, while non-economic damages compensate the plaintiff for intangible losses. Economic damages are typically easier to prove than non-economic damages through the use of receipts, invoices, and other similar documentation.
Keep reading to learn more about economic damages in personal injury cases.
Examples of Economic Damages
Economic damages can be awarded in many types of civil cases. A few common examples in Dallas include the following:
Personal Injury Claims
When many people think of economic damages, they imagine personal injury lawsuits. If you’ve been injured because of someone else’s negligence, you might sue for damages.
If your case is successful, you could recover economic damages for losses such as:
- Medical costs
- Lost income
- Loss of earning capacity
- Estimated cost of future medical care
- Property damage
For example, if you’re in a car accident that leaves you permanently disabled, your economic damages would likely cover your medical care and the income you’ve lost up until the point of the lawsuit. You might also be compensated for the income you would have earned in the future if you hadn’t become disabled.
Business Litigation
In business and commercial litigation, plaintiffs can potentially recover economic damages if they’ve lost money due to fraud, theft, negligence, or other types of misconduct.
Some types of economic damages often awarded in Texas business lawsuits include:
- Lost profits due to fraud or defamation
- Lost income due to theft of trade secrets or copyright infringement
- Loss of business value due to reputational damage
- Loss of investments due to portfolio mismanagement
- Lost income due to wrongful termination
For instance, suppose that you own a lawn care company. A competitor takes photos of a badly mown lawn and creates an ad claiming that it’s an example of your company’s work. You may be able to file a defamation lawsuit if you lose business as a result.
If you do file the lawsuit and the court rules in your favor, you could be awarded economic damages to compensate you for the future income you lost.
Additional Examples of Economic Damages in Civil Cases
Other common situations that could call for economic damages include:
- A court could award a tenant $2,000 for property destroyed in a sewage overflow.
- Plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit might receive compensation for medical bills caused by a defective drug.
- In a breach of contract lawsuit, the plaintiff may be compensated for the costs associated with finding a new contractor.
- In a wrongful death lawsuit, the family could be compensated for the income the deceased would have earned in the future.
Typically, a court will award you economic damages if you can prove the value of the financial loss and show that it was a direct result of the defendant’s actions.
How Are Economic Damages Calculated?
Some types of economic damages are relatively easy to calculate. If you want to recover compensation for your past medical care, your attorney would just need to review your medical bills and add up the total.
In other instances, determining how much you’re owed in damages can be a challenge. If you’re seeking compensation for loss of earning capacity, for example, your attorney might need to consult an economist and a labor market scholar to estimate the value of your future lost wages.
Can You Recover Economic Damages in a Dallas Criminal Case?
Imagine you were mugged and suffered serious injuries in the process. The police find and arrest the mugger, and you’re prepared to testify at the trial. But you might wonder whether you can ask the court to award you compensation for your hospital bills.
Unfortunately, criminal cases generally don’t involve recovering compensation for victims. They determine whether the defendant is criminally responsible, and if they are, they’ll receive a sentence.
However, as a crime victim, you might be able to file a civil lawsuit against the offender to recover economic and non-economic damages. You can pursue a civil case regardless of whether the defendant faced criminal charges.
Contact Our Dallas Personal Injury Lawyers at Nash Law Personal Injury Lawyers for a Free Consultation
If you’ve lost money because of the actions of another person or business entity, you shouldn’t be responsible for covering those costs yourself. Recovering compensation is often far more complex than it seems, though, and you may not know where to start.
That is where the skilled team at Nash Law Personal Injury Lawyers comes in. As a comprehensive law firm, we tirelessly advocate for clients in a wide range of practice areas throughout Dallas. Contact us at (214) 831-4414 today to schedule your free consultation with our Dallas personal injury lawyers.
Visit Our Personal Injury Law Office in Dallas, TX
Nash Law Personal Injury Lawyers
2807 Allen St #2033, Dallas, TX 75204
(214) 624-6026
